A small field, an ancient place, one olive oil.
Taroncino is a single-estate extra virgin olive oil from a family field in the heart of Istria โ pressed from five olive varieties within hours of picking, and analysed to the highest quality standard.
A corner of Istria the Romans knew.
The land between Faลพana, Vodnjan, Galizana and Bale has been producing olive oil since the Roman occupation of Istria, when this stretch of the peninsula was referred to as the golden triangle โ the finest olive-growing ground on the coast. The soil, the climate, the aspect of the land: all of it conspired to make something exceptional here, two thousand years before we started pressing it.
The Taronco sits in the middle of that triangle. 288 trees, enclosed within ancient dry stone walls, in a field that has belonged to the same family for generations.
About the estate โ
Four generations.
One field.
The story of Taroncino begins not with an oil, but with a man who loved the land he was born on โ and never stopped tending it.
The first trees
The earliest olive trees in the Taronco were planted by Danilo Moscarda's father โ in the field the family already owned outside Galizana, in what was then Italy. A few rows. A beginning.
Nonno Danilo adds more rows
Born in Galizana when it was still part of Italy, Danilo Moscarda built a successful business importing Italian furniture into what had become Yugoslavia โ but he never lost his connection to the soil. Through the 1980s he planted more trees, expanding the field and introducing new varieties to complement the originals.
The blend takes shape
A third phase of planting through the 1990s completed the variety mix โ Leccino, Bianchera, Busa, Carbonazza and Frantoio โ the five that now make up every bottle of Taroncino. Danillo knew what he wanted from the field, and he was patient enough to build it over decades.
The field is complete
The final trees were planted to bring the Taronco to its full 288. The field Danillo had been building since the 1980s was finished. It had taken twenty years. He knew it would outlast him.
Tatjana, Dino, Pamela, Denny and Fabio
The Taronco is now tended by Tatjana, Dino and Fabio Moscarda, whose family have been rooted in this corner of Istria for generations. Their daughter Pamela, a designer living in London, and son Denny are part of the story too. Taroncino is the name they gave the oil โ a small Italian nod to the field that started it all.
Three things we will not compromise on.
The people who pick it
Everyone who harvests the Taronco is paid above the EU minimum wage, without exception. The work is skilled and physical. The team comes back year after year, working tree by tree with hand-picking and low-intervention electric tools.
Our ethics โThe land it comes from
No pesticides, no herbicides, no synthetic fertilisers โ ever. The grass grows between the trees. Sheep keep it in check. The field borders are left wild. The Taronco is farmed the way Istrian land has been farmed for centuries.
How we farm โThe quality of the oil
Pressed within 12 hours of picking at 19โ21ยฐC. Independently laboratory tested. Every chemical result on the label, openly. Our 2025 harvest polyphenol count of 626 mg/kg exceeds the EU health claim threshold by more than double.
Understanding the analysis โโHe never saw the trees as an investment. He saw them as something to leave behind.โ
An oil that carries its credentials openly.
Every bottle of Taroncino prints its full laboratory analysis on the label. Not as a marketing claim โ as a record. Acidity, peroxide, wax content, UV absorbance, polyphenols: the numbers that tell you exactly what is in the bottle, and what they mean.
Produced using organic methods. Cold pressed. Harvested by hand and battery-powered pole. Independently verified.
Read the full analysis
Stockists, partnerships and private enquiries.
Taroncino is a small-batch oil from a single field. Annual production is limited by the 288 trees in the Taronco, and what the season gives us. We work with independent retailers, delicatessens, farm shops, and restaurants who care about provenance as much as we do.