Our Story
There's an oil, at home, called Ti.Si. It wasn't chosen for marketing: the initials stand for Tiziana and Signorello, my parents' names — the people who first taught me to love this land. What we once picked for our own table has become a real, organic project, one I now carry forward with my sister Alessandra in Pergusa, in the heart of Sicily. This is the story of how it began.
Our Roots
Before it was a business, Tenute Balsamo was a family gesture: every year we picked the olives, took them to the mill, and filled bottles for the family pantry. An oil that was never sold. It was given as a gift, and shared at the table, among family.
I named it Ti.Si. so I'd never forget where it comes from: Tiziana and Signorello, my mother's and father's names. They're the ones who put the first harvester in my hands, who taught me to recognize a ripe olive by its color and by the way it falls onto the harvesting net.
From that family tradition, something bigger was born: a real business, which I now run together with my sister Alessandra. We never wanted to stop making oil the way our family always had. We simply decided to make it for anyone who, like us, is looking for an oil with a precise identity — not just another product on the shelf.
“I named it Ti.Si. so I'd never forget where it comes from: Tiziana and Signorello, my mother and father.”
Our Land: Pergusa, Enna
Tenute Balsamo is based in Pergusa, a hamlet of Enna, in the heart of central Sicily. It's a different landscape from the coastal one people usually picture when they think of olive oil: further inland, drier, far from the sea and close to Lake Pergusa.
This is where our olive trees grow and ripen, following the seasons of an inland territory we didn't choose for convenience, but because it's our family's own land. Caring for it well, before anything else, is where everything we do begins.
From Tree to Bottle
We harvest the olives with electric shakers, letting them fall onto nets laid on the ground: they never touch the soil, never bruise, never start fermenting before their time. From there they go straight into perforated crates, which let them breathe during transport.
The most important step comes next: pressing within 5 hours of harvest, at an organic-certified mill close to our estate. The less time passes between tree and mill, the more the oil keeps the aromas and character the olive still had on the branch.
We use a blade crusher, which cuts the pulp and pit gently instead of grinding them: a technical detail your palate will notice, in an oil that's more fragrant and less harsh. A member of the family follows every stage at the mill in person, because for us quality is never delegated.
We transport the olives and the oil with our own vehicles and crates; a transport document accompanies every batch. As soon as it's ready, the oil goes into our estate's tank, kept at controlled temperature and humidity, and every batch is logged on a dedicated register, labeled and numbered as required by law: we can trace every single bottle back to when and how it was made.
Three Olives, One Character
Olio Ti.Si. is born from a blend of three varieties, each with a precise role. 80% is Nocellara Etnea: it brings structure and intensity, with fruity notes and a light bitterness and pepperiness that come through without ever dominating. 15% is Biancolilla, which brings freshness and a gentler pepperiness, softening the bitterness and adding complexity. The remaining 5% is Moresca, an early-ripening variety that brings roundness and balance to the whole.
The result is an oil that's intense yet balanced: it makes itself known without ever overpowering the dish it accompanies. It's the Tenute Balsamo signature, the same balance we look for in every harvest from our estate.
“We never wanted to stop making oil the way our family always had. We simply decided to make it for anyone who, like us, is looking for an oil with a precise identity.”
Organic by Choice
We farm organically by choice, not for a label. No synthetic chemicals, respect for the land's own timing, a balance with the environment that for us is a daily responsibility — not a trend to advertise.
It's a choice we can prove, not just talk about: our organic certification is issued by Suolo e Salute Srl (control body IT-BIO-004), certificate no. IT-BIO-004.380-0068644.2025.002, valid from August 6, 2025 to August 5, 2028. It covers everything we grow on the estate: olives for oil, almonds, chamomile, rosemary, sage, and thyme.
Verify the certificate“We farm organically by choice, not for a label.”
How to Taste Olio Ti.Si.
Tasting an oil properly takes a minute of attention, not a complicated ritual. Look first: observe the color and clarity, keeping in mind that color alone says nothing about quality. Bring it close to your nose and look for grassy, fruity, sometimes spicy notes.
Then taste it: a small sip spread across your whole palate, inhaling gently with your mouth closed to pick up the balance between sweet, bitter, and peppery. Take your time, perhaps over a piece of plain bread.
In the kitchen, the fruity, rounded character of Olio Ti.Si., with its light pepperiness and bitterness, pairs beautifully with soups and grilled vegetables, with white meats, and with delicate fish like sea bass and gilt-head bream.
This Is the Story Behind Every Bottle
A family, a land, a blend that never changed to please the market. If you'd like to try it, you'll find it among our products — 2025 harvest, best before May 2027.
Discover Olio Ti.Si.