Slovenian Istria · Seča

Where the olive groves mirror themselves in the Sečovlje salt pans.

Name: San Bortolo
Address: Seča 71, Portorož, 6320, SI
Telephone: +386 40 864 777

San Bortolo extra virgin olive oil grows on the edge of Slovenian Istria, where sun, salt and stony ground give the oil the taste of this place.

Discover the story See the offering

Name and heritage

From Saint Bartholomew to San Bortolo

Seča, where our family home stands, was once called San Bartolomeo. Locals affectionately shortened it to San Bortolo — the name we gave our oil, to keep the memory of this place and its people alive. We spend hot afternoons in the shade of the olive trees, listening to cicadas, watching the sky mirror itself in the nearby salt pans. That stillness is part of every bottle.

Fresh olives on a San Bortolo olive branch

I spend hot afternoons in the shade of the olive trees. Their slender leaves dance in the gentle breeze, keeping time with the song of the cicadas that fills the ear without pause. My eyes rest on the salt-pan fields. The blue reflected there is a mirror image of the sky. How many times I've lost myself watching it, following the clouds past an olive branch, to learn what weather was coming …

It brought me joy to catch a drop of rain in my palm, so precious to our Istrian soil. With that same hand I stroked the branch, leaving on it a trace of softness, a scent of oil.

A noble taste is woven from this tradition.
With San Bortolo olive oil, we wish to share it with you.

Close your eyes, breathe in, listen to your heart, gather a little sun in your hand, and taste San Bortolo olive oil.

This is Istria.

The sea

Nearby waters soften temperature swings all year round.
Sečovlje salt pans

Shallow salt grids mirror the sky right beside the grove.
San Bortolo grove

Integrated production on stony Istrian soil.
The homestead, Seča

Harvest and pressing close together, with no time lost.

The grove

Between the sea and the salt pans

Our olive groves grow in Seča, right beside the Sečovlje salt pans, where sea, sun and stony Istrian soil meet. We farm according to the principles of integrated production — natural resources and methods that protect the soil, water and people's health, while letting the olive develop its full, honest flavour.

Quality

Just the olive. Nothing else.

The oil is extracted purely by mechanical, cold-press methods — no chemical or thermal treatment, no additives. Based on chemical analysis, it is ranked in the highest quality category of extra virgin olive oil.

Awards since 1999

From our first DOSI diploma in 1999 to the Golden Olive Twig in 2010 — quality confirmed over the years. Awards are presented by the Association of Olive Growers of Slovenian Istria (DOSI), together with ZRS Koper and LABS, based on sensory evaluation and chemical analysis.