Campo Lisio is an organic olive farm located in Salento, at the southernmost tip of Puglia, where the land is arid, the climate demanding, and nature still untamed.
Born nearly twenty years ago from a love at first sight with a landscape rather than from an agricultural project, we cultivate olives — and exceptional products — with patience and respect, at the heart of a preserved environment shaped by Mediterranean scrubland, wild meadows, and forests.
Today we are proposing two grand crus for the first time, the first named simply Contrada Campo Lisio, an extra virgin olive oil from the best olives from our best groves on our eponymous farm in the arid Capo di Leuca, where we started farming olives 20 years go, and where we have planted over 1500 trees.
Trees of many species, not only olive trees: a naturally wild Mediterranean scrubland, the planting of all kinds of local fruit varieties, but also avocado trees and, more recently, mango and papaya trees.
Fingers crossed!
This biodiversity has naturally attracted all kinds of wild plants and spontaneous herbs (foglie miste), as well as bird colonies. All of this contributes to an olive oil rich in wild and magnificent aromas. Fingers crossed.
It is most important to note the balance of the oil, after the apocalyptic passage of the rapid leaf drying syndrome (CODIRO) this last decade, where varieties such as Frantoio, Coratina and Leccino rest with almost equal portion with century old revitalised Cellina di Nardo which has been saved from disease by natural agro-eclogical methods paying special attention to the earth, the very sustenance of the tree, enabling them to increase their natural immunity and resistance to diseases. During these last years we have begun planting both Leccio del Corno and Lecciana.
Varieties such as Frantoio, Coratina, and Leccino are present in almost equivalent proportions to the centuries-old and revitalized Cellina di Nardò, saved from disease through natural agro-ecological methods, with particular attention paid to the soil-the true source of the tree’s sustenance-allowing it to strengthen its natural immunity and disease resistance. In recent years, we have also begun planting Leccio del Corno and Lecciana.
Our motto for this harvest was “every olive on every tree.”
This required an army of dedicated collaborators, climbing and picking olives by hand, harvesting those from isolated branches and young shoots.
This approach allowed a significant portion of the ancient — and long-proven — Ogliarola di Lecce to enter the blend, bringing to the oil a flavour we thought perhaps lost, but which we see reborn today thanks to the tenacity and hard work of many contadini resistenti of Salento.
In parallel, we have specialised in chili peppers, growing different varieties from seed: the local Guardacielo, Cayenne, Habanero (red, orange and chocolate), Thai bird chilis, Sri Lankan Kochchi, Jalapeño and Paprika. All plants are grown using rigorous organic methods.
We now offer two hot sauces: Salsamara and Piccantissimo, both made from homemade recipes — delicious and fiery!
We also produce dried chili powder and have created an extra virgin olive oil, Contrada Chili, obtained by simultaneously pressing olives and chili peppers… one of the most surprising and striking olive oils you will ever find!
Every year, every harvest, every season presents us with its host of challenges.
With every day that goes by, we get better at rising to those challenges.
At Campo Lisio, all pesticides and herbicides have long been banned in order to foster maximum biodiversity.
The farm is organically certified and goes even further in its commitment by using exclusively natural fertilisers and repellents.
Vast expanses of land are dedicated to Mediterranean scrubland, others to citrus and avocado orchards, as well as chili pepper gardens and a wide variety of other vegetables.
Our goal is to continue planting and developing our crops and our products.
Monoculture is the enemy of any farm wishing to create quality as it privileges mechanisation and low costs of production, removing diversity to make way for same. The trouble with this is that it’s a godsend for pests and diseases generally and forces farmers to use chemicals and dangerous substances for consumers on their trees and crops.
Privileging bio diversity in a greater project of rewilding enables plants to fend for themselves developing their natural resistances and confusing pests with multiple essences rather than helping them by cultivating only one.
Our motto when launching our exceptional oil, the Contrada Campo Lisio, was to harvest every olive from every tree, without forgetting the shoots of the oldest trees nor certain wild varieties found in the scrubland.
An exceptional olive oil is produced during early harvests (beginning of October), picked by hand and quickly pressed in the finest local mills. The Contrada, Primofiore and Contrada Chili extra virgin olive oils are the result of these choices — and the proof is in the taste!
At Campo Lisio, all pesticides and herbicides have long been banned in order to foster maximum biodiversity.
The farm is organically certified and goes even further in its commitment by using exclusively natural fertilisers and repellents.
Vast expanses of land are dedicated to Mediterranean scrubland, others to citrus and avocado orchards, as well as chili pepper gardens and a wide variety of other vegetables.
Our goal is to continue planting and developing our crops and our products.
Monoculture is the enemy of any farm wishing to create quality as it privileges mechanisation and low costs of production, removing diversity to make way for same. The trouble with this is that it’s a godsend for pests and diseases generally and forces farmers to use chemicals and dangerous substances for consumers on their trees and crops.
Privileging bio diversity in a greater project of rewilding enables plants to fend for themselves developing their natural resistances and confusing pests with multiple essences rather than helping them by cultivating only one.
Our motto when launching our exceptional oil, the Contrada Campo Lisio, was to harvest every olive from every tree, without forgetting the shoots of the oldest trees nor certain wild varieties found in the scrubland.
An exceptional olive oil is produced during early harvests (beginning of October), picked by hand and quickly pressed in the finest local mills. The Contrada, Primofiore and Contrada Chili extra virgin olive oils are the result of these choices — and the proof is in the taste!
At the origin of Campo Lisio, Dominic settled in Salento in the mid-2000s, drawn by the light, the land and the authenticity of this still-preserved region.
Olive growing became a natural calling, then a passion, nurtured by experience, observation and the long passage of time.
Campo Lisio is also a community of women and men: farmers, harvesters, and local partners, all committed to meticulous, respectful manual work, perpetuating a know-how deeply rooted in Salento.
Harvest time is crucial. The olives are picked by hand, tree by tree, branch by branch, sometimes even down to the youngest shoots. Each olive counts.
This patient approach preserves the fruit, expresses the aromatic complexity of local varieties, and produces balanced, intense, and vibrant oils.
Leccino
Leccino
Campo Lisio has become a paradise for chilies… The chilies intended for the production of chili oil, salsamara, and chili powder are planted among the olive trees, and their shapes and colors are a feast for the eyes.
Guardacielo
Cayenne
Harabanero
Thaï Bird Chili
Jalapeno
Black Pepper Chili
Koichchi
Ceylon Chili
Guardacielo
Cayenne
Harabanero
Thaï Bird Chili
Jalapeno
Black Pepper Chili
Koichchi
Ceylon Chili
Campo Lisio benefits from a southern Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild winters, where every drop of water is precious. These conditions allow for year-round vegetable production: salads, fennel, beets, all kinds of broccoli and cauliflower, chicory, and potatoes in winter; a wide variety of ubiquitous wild weeds, including wild arugula, and, in summer, all kinds of tomatoes, eggplants, melons, basil, peppers, etc., grow in abundance.
In order to ensure maximum biodiversity, to combat pests organically, but also for the bee colonies present on the land, many varieties of fruit trees have been planted: native fig, pear, almond, and pomegranate trees, man varieties of citrus with a large number of Sicilian lemon trees, and avocado trees, including Hass, Fuerte, Bacon and Reed varieties.
Avocados
Avocados
