LOCATION AND CLIMATE

 

As you might expect, olives grown in cooler areas where there is more moisture (rainfall and dew) exhibit leaner, more restrained characteristics.  This doesn’t however mean that great oil can now be made in Iceland – you need a minimum amount of sunshine to make your Extra Virgin Olive Oil taste remarkable, similarly to tomatoes or stone fruit.

Olive trees are sensitive to winter freeze (the Casaliva cultivar is more resistant to cold, hence being grown in the Garda region).  It is also easier to farm organically where the climate is more stable and less chemical sprays are required to keep the trees healthy.

OLIVE MATURITY

 

Here’s the thing – all olives are green.  When they become fully mature, they turn black.
Olive maturity at the time of harvest is a major factor in flavour and quality: olives harvested earlier (green olives) feature more bitter, grassy characteristics, with lower yields and with the highest anti-oxidant content.  The oil is a much more intense green colour and has a longer shelf-life.  In terms of production, milling can take longer with green olives (a longer malaxation - the action of slowly churning milled olives to release droplets of oil - is needed and can be more complicated) but the results are far superior!  Don’t choose olive oil from over mature fruit: it lacks all the potential goodness and flavour.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN GROVE AND MILL

 

People who care passionately about what they make and follow it personally every day have the capacity to create products with far higher quality, with integrity, and that taste of where they come from.  They are also able to do this by caring for the environment they inhabit.

FRANTOIO DI RIVA BOX

This box contains 6 bottles of extra virgin olive oil made exclusively by Frantoio di Riva from groves on the banks of lake Garda.

Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO green label x 3 bottles (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO organic white label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, 46°PARALLELO blue label x 1 bottle (50cl)
Frantoio di Riva, ULIVA Garda Trentino DOP x 1 bottle (50cl)

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Trieste Waterfront
September 3, 2020 In Italophile

Crossroads to Trieste

Trieste is one of the most unique cities you can discover in Italy. Nestled between the sea, the mountains, Slovenia and the rest of Friuli Venezia Giulia, you feel in many places at the same time while discovering this Middle European gem of a city.

The area around Trieste has been inhabited since pre-roman times, and became one of the most important settlements in the area as a border town, as a site of famous battles, as a maritime giant and a place contested by big empires – from Venice to Napoleon to the Habsburgs, for which Trieste became it’s most important port and 4th largest city. Trieste was contested between Italy and Yugoslavia and even had a period as a free independent city under the protection of the UN.  Now firmly Italian, the city’s historical influences can be found in the names of people and places around it, as well as the elegant buildings and monuments dotted throughout the city.
Trieste has a compact city centre surrounding the beautiful sprawling Piazza Unità d’Italia, with historical coffee houses, elegant shops and inspiring book stores. Towering over the city is Castel San Giusto with the nearby Cathedral, with which we felt a strong affinity as Enea Piccolomini was bishop before becoming Pope Pius II – the founder of Pienza one of the the places we love most here in Tuscany.
But Trieste is about sea and the mountains – always visible from any point, always inviting. Indeed in the summer it is possible to swim in the Gulf of Trieste, directly from one of the stabilimenti that dot the city: from the centre of town directly in the sea.
Whilst exploring Trieste, we discovered the sensational olive oils of the Parovel family.  Cool climate, precise and distinctive, we are delighted to be working with the Bianchera cultivar and Elena Parovel.
Places to eat & drink: Antica Hostaria da Libero (traditional with a modern twist); Caffe degli Specchi (to absorb the culture); Pier the Roof (for some excellent sea front cocktails), Jazzin (maybe, just maybe the best gelato we have ever had)
Places to see: Piazza Unità d’Italia; the Trieste Cathedral, the waterfront
Top 3 things to do: wonder around the centre enjoying the spectacular baroque architecture; visit the literary cafes where local cultural legends Italo Svevo, Umberto Saba and James Joyce used to enjoy Trieste’s exquisite coffee; swim in the sea directly from the harbour