The “Dritta” variety is the product that gives its name to CPT. It is characterized by constant productivity and good yield in terms of oil. What characterizes it are the particularly rapid fruiting, the presence of large fruits and the early maturation of the latter. The low resistance to detachment makes mechanical harvesting and the establishment of intensive olive groves possible. From an organoleptic point of view, it guarantees oils characterized by a medium/intense level of fruity, bitter and spicy, with a prevailing hint of fresh almond and light sensations of grass/leaf and artichoke. Recognizability from a qualitative point of view represents one of its very important strong points: La Dritta, together with the Toccolana and Leccino varieties, is the reference cultivar in the production of the Aprutino Pescarese DOP oil. This oil was the first in Italy to have obtained European DOP recognition in 1996. The DOP Aprutino Pescarese oil is 80% made up of the Dritta monovarietal and guarantees the protection of the quality of the product. Within the Colline Teramane PDO it represents 10%. It is also present within organic production but in smaller volumes. The high concentration of polyphenols gives it very important nutraceutical properties as demonstrated by the numerous chemical and sensorial analyzes carried out over time by research bodies (ex-ARSSA and “Gabriele d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara), by consortia and from the Abruzzo Region. Assam Marche identified, in its sample analysis, an average value of 587.82 mg/kg, a minimum value of 261 mg/kg and a maximum value of 1,198 mg/kg, with a standard deviation of 199.37. Professors Alessandro Grosso and Mauro Marra of the Department of Biology of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” have demonstrated in their research the positive role of phenolic compounds for health by determining their bioavailability (persistence of the molecule or of the forms originating from its metabolism at the hepatic level, in the plasma) and subsequently the quality of the health role, as well as the action targets. The municipalities of the Terre Pescaresi where Dritta is grown are: Penne, Collecorvino, Loreto Aprutino, Moscufo, Pianella, Nocciano, Rosciano, Picciano, Elice, Città Sant’Angelo, Catignano. The presence in the Province of Pescara has historical roots and began during the Renaissance, when it supplanted the Castiglionese cultivar which is the oldest in Abruzzo. Its success was due to the consistency of production and its name is linked precisely to the concepts of reliability and consistency of production. Notoriety is mainly limited to regional borders due to a prolonged absence of effective promotional actions, especially following the reconversion of ARSSA Abruzzo which dealt with scientific research and the dissemination and promotion of typical Abruzzo products. Thanks to the initiatives of the Chieti-Pescara Chamber of Commerce, Dritta has entered the Japanese market. Exports are mainly concentrated in Canada and the United States. In order to strengthen the sector, the Oil Quality Agri-food District was established with the Municipality of Pianella as leader. In the Province of Pescara there are 2 million three hundred thousand olive trees, of which one million eight hundred thousand are from Dritta. The average yield is approximately 40 kg per plant. The average oil production in the last 4 years was 9,600 tonnes in Abruzzo. In the Province of Pescara it is 2,496 tonnes, of which 1,996.80 tonnes of monovarietal Dritta. There are 8,800 agricultural producing companies in Dritta. There are 390 companies with olive groves registered with the Aprutino-Pescarese DOP, of which 4 are cooperatives with at least 100 associated producers. Consequently, the companies registered with the PDO are significant in terms of olive groves. There are 167 processing companies in Dritta. The cultivar also stands out within the National Association “Città dell’Olio”. The Abruzzo cities in the Pescaresi lands that are part of it are: Città Sant’Angelo, Loreto Aprutino, Moscufo, Pianella, Tocco da Casauria. The Association brings together the Municipalities, the Provinces, the Chambers of Commerce, the LAGs (Local Action Groups) – in accordance with European legislation – and the Parks, located in territories in which oils are produced which document an adequate olive-growing tradition connected to values of environmental, historical, cultural character and/or falling within a Designation of Origin. Specifically, one of the main tasks of the Association is to disseminate the culture of the olive tree and quality olive oil; protect and promote the environment and the olive-growing landscape; spread the history of olive growing; guarantee the consumer through the valorization of designations of origin, the organization of events, the implementation of communication and marketing strategies aimed at understanding of the great Italian olive growing heritage. Testimonies regarding the importance of the tip are also present among historical documents. Its cultivation, which began in Abruzzo as early as the 5th – 4th century BC, had a notable development at the time of Roman domination, thanks also to the favorable climatic conditions of the area. We have evidence of this production both from the texts of Virgil and Ovid and other minor writers, and from the remains of ancient trappeti. During the imperial period the olive tree and other agricultural products became goods of exchange between Abruzzo and the capital. During the barbarian invasions and at the beginning of the Middle Ages the variety was cultivated only at a family level, but, around 1200, in the abbeys of the Cisternesi Benedictine friars, the selection and development of its cultivation was carried out. During the Spanish domination the economy and agriculture of Abruzzo had a period of decline, but at the beginning of the 19th century, with the transformation of the feudal large estate into a bourgeois large estate and with the granting of ecclesiastical properties to farmers, agriculture had a new development, especially with the cultivation of the olive tree in which the straight one was the most widespread variety. In the Vestina area two different realities coexisted: on the one hand the large landholding families and on the other the owners of small plots of land. Large families often owned their own oil mill within the city. In Penne we remember the “D’Alfonso” oil mill in Piazza Luca da Penne and

CPT Dritta of the Pescara Lands

The headquarters of the CPT “Dritta delle Terre Pescaresi” is at the headquarters of the leader, Associazione Culturale Pleiadi, in Via della Monache n.4 in Loreto Aprutino. The “Terre Pescaresi” GAL has also granted the use of the “Terre dei Vestini” Gallery of Taste in the premises of the former Court of Penne in Largo San Giovanni Battista for the activities. The Galleria del Gusto is the third in Abruzzo after that of the “Province of Chieti” opened in Casoli (CH) in September 2008 and the “Terre Pescaresi” inaugurated in Manoppello (PE) in August 2015. The project was born in Abruzzo within of the local development plans promoted by the LAGs, to create knowledge centers on the culture of the territory and food. The Municipality of Penne accepted the invitation of the GAL Terre Pescaresi to create a space dedicated to food and wine and the territory in the city, inside a building of historical and architectural value. The intervention was financed by the GAL Terre Pescaresi within its Local Development Plan, PSR Abruzzo 2007-2013, with the co-financing of European Community Funds EAFRD.

“The weather cooling down and the sea rippling. Everything tells me that winter has arrived for me andthat I must, without delay, harvest my olives andoffer the virgin oil to everyone. ‘altar of the good God.”
Frédéric Mistral