Valicella, a family farm

Since the early 1960s, the Valicella farm has cultivated the land of the Figari valley, around the hamlet of the same name. Throughout its history, the agricultural holding has evolved with different crops and livestock to focus on sheep’s cheese, olive oil and agro tourism.
The primary activity of the farm is cheese production.
From November to June, all 400 sheep of the herd are milked twice a day. The milk thus harvested is processed daily to produce Tomme de brebis Sartenaise and Brocciu. The manufacturing processes of these two traditional and typical products of the island are the outcome of a know-how passed down through generations and enriched by external influences.
Tomme, matured for 3 to 8 months, is a hard cheese made from raw milk. Pressed by hand, the cheeses are then removed from the mould and dried on racks before being smoked with wood from the maquis (mainly arbutus, myrtle and lentisk).

The second step is the production of Brocciu, by recovering the whey (or “whey”) from the manufacture of the Tomme. This cheese can be enjoyed fresh within a few days of production, or for 21 days, thus creating Brocciu Passu. In 2017, with the return of the youngest of the three children to the island, the farming has broadened. The olive trees, which were planted twenty years ago and remained unexploited for a long time, now produce three kinds of Corsican olives: Ghjermana, Sabina and Zinzala. Family, transmission, taste and respect for nature then become the key-words of an approach that takes the side of an oil with a strong character, preserving the power and bitterness of the fruit. Above all, Valicella is a place of welcome and sharing that everyone can enjoy through the cottages scattered all over the farm and available for rent throughout the year.