THE HOUSE — THE TERROIR
Tagzirt, at the foot of the Atlas.
At 600 m, 660 Picholine Marocaine olive trees stand on a single piece of land — one variety, one origin.
Six hundred metres, in the foothills of the High Atlas. The altitude does all the work we do not: the night falls markedly colder than the day, ripening slows, and the fruit takes longer to compose its aromas. It is an agronomic constraint before it is an argument — it pushes the harvest back, it caps the yield, and it gives the oil its tension.
Eau de fonte du Haut Atlas : la rivière et le puits de la rive puisent la même nappe de montagne.
That same mountain water irrigates the grove all year, with no chemical inputs. One variety, one plot: the Picholine Marocaine here is neither blended nor topped up with an outside purchase.
TIWIZI
Mutual aid, before machinery.
Tiwizi est le mot amazigh de l'entraide : au moment de la récolte, on se prête main-forte de parcelle en parcelle, et l'on rend ce que l'on a reçu. Ce n'est pas une couleur locale, c'est notre organisation du travail — et la raison pour laquelle nous cueillons à la main sans jamais courir après la machine.
In practice: the harvest is done by many hands, it is declared and paid, and nobody climbs a tree to beat it. It is slower than a vibrating comb, and that is exactly why we do it — a beaten tree gives less the following year.
Out of respect for everyone's privacy, we do not publish portraits: we show the work itself.
- Locality
- Tagzirt
- Region
- Béni Mellal-Khénifra
- Altitude
- ≈ 600 m
- Coordinates
- 32°26′ N, 6°11′ W
