Riserva 500 ml
Bright, herbaceous, spicy, with walnut underneath.
The early pick, when the fruit is still green and the oil comes out at its strongest.
The Riserva comes from an earlier harvest, when the olives are still green. The yield drops, which is why there is less of it, and the polyphenols climb: 500 to 600 mg/kg, at the top of what an extra virgin can carry.
It is the bottle to keep in reach rather than in a cupboard. Herbaceous and openly spicy, it stands up to grilled meat, to legumes, to anything you would otherwise finish with salt.
A green oil, in the sense that it tastes like the tree it came from.
We tell the story of Libellula and open the door. The purchase, the shipping and the proceeds stay theirs, we live on a small fee.
Discover who is behind Riserva 500 ml, the process and the values.
Meet the artisan →Questions? Talk to the maker →Camillo Franchi Scarselli never imagined he would become an olive grower.
For years, he ran a marketing agency in Rome. Everything changed when he moved to the hills of the Roman Sabina and discovered a landscape where olive trees had shaped both the land and the people for centuries.
At the same time, his daughter Julia was studying environmental science and architecture in the United States.
When she returned home, they both realised something alarming.
The groves that had defined the Sabina for generations were slowly disappearing: climate change had made harvests less predictable, production costs kept rising, young people were leaving the countryside, and for many families, continuing simply no longer made economic sense. Libellula was born as a response to that reality.
Not simply to produce olive oil, but to create a model that could make preserving these groves economically sustainable again.
Today, Libellula works with a network of small family growers around Palombara Sabina, helping preserve both the landscape and the knowledge behind it.
Their olive adoption programme allows people to support the restoration of abandoned groves, while every bottle reflects the same philosophy: olives harvested by hand, grown without pesticides and pressed within twenty-four hours of harvest to preserve the freshness, vibrant flavour and naturally high antioxidant content of the fruit.
In recent years, the family has also opened the doors of their home, welcoming just five guests at a time to experience the Roman Sabina through its olive groves, abbeys, imperial villas and slower rhythm of life.


More experiences
Good to know
What's included?
500 ml tin, autumn harvest. Early pick, green olives. 500 to 600 mg/kg polyphenols. Picked by hand, cold-pressed within twenty-four hours. Regenerative farming, no pesticides. Tin protects the oil from light.
How long does it last?
Best within eighteen months of the harvest, kept away from light and heat.
How much does it cost?
500 ml tin: $44
Where does it take place?
Palombara Sabina, Lazio
When is it available?
Limited to the early harvest · Ships from Palombara Sabina
Talk to the maker
A question about this experience, the dates or anything else? Message the maker directly and they’ll get back to you.
Get in touch