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)

Frantoi - Oils
June 18, 2020 In EVOO

Extra Virgin vs other Olive Oil

The market for Olive Oil is vast – in Italy domestic demand outstrips supply and so you can imagine how much oil needs to be sourced from outside to fulfill the volume demands of large companies who supply supermarkets around the globe. You can find an incredibly broad range of quality in the bottle therefore.

Unfortunately, Oil labeled Extra Virgin from Italy can (due to a persistent lack of regulation within the industry) be from different origins and may not even be Extra Virgin. The main key is the price – a number of industry experts agree it is not possible to sell Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil for under £10 a 75cl bottle and this is for the absolute basic quality level.
If you want to be sure that your EVOO is indeed what it says it is then the best way is to source directly from a the press house – which we do for you!

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL comes exclusively from the olive and is extracted using solely mechanical or physical means in thermal conditions (under 27°C) that do not alter the oil in any way. Among other things, it contains no more than 0.8% free acidity and is judged to have a superior taste and no defects whatsoever. It is pure juice.

VIRGIN OLIVE OIL is of slightly lower quality with free acidity up to 1.5% and is judged to have a good taste but may contain slight sensory defects.

REFINED OLIVE OIL is achieved by treating defective or low quality Virgin Olive Oil with the use of charcoal and other chemical and physical filters. Oil labeled as pure olive oil or simply olive oil is primarily refined oil with a small percentage of EVOO added to improve the taste.

LAMPANTE VIRGIN OIL is extracted by mechanical methods but not suitable for human consumption without further refining. Lampante is Italian for ‘glaring’ and refers to its use for burning in lamps. Lampante virgin oil can be used for industrial purposes or refined to make it edible.

OLIVE POMACE OIL is obtained by treating the pomace (ground flesh and stones that are left following extraction) with solvents or other physical treatments. Olive Pomace Oil is typically a blend of extra virgin olive oil and refined pomace oil. It is suitable for consumption but may not be described simply as olive oil.

If you would like to know more about quality levels of Olive Oil, this article is worth a read