CULTIVAR

 

There are around 800 different Olive Cultivars in Italy alone, many of which are used for Olive Oil. Similarly to grape varieties in wine, the Olive cultivar influences the flavour profile of your oil.  Different cultivars, depending on size of fruit, thickness of the skin, composition of the pulp can produce different yields, varying concentrations of anti-oxidants and overall different quality levels.

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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FRIULI-VENEZIA-GIULIA

Frantoio Parovel

On the far north-eastern shoulder of Italy hugging the Slovenian and Austrian boarders, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia is a region full of historic, political and cultural collisions. Its capital city is mariner’s haven, Trieste, and this makes it an important gateway for transportation and commerce between the east and west of southern Europe. Trieste is the most important centre globally for the trade of coffee and this has benefited the surrounding area hugely. Undoubtedly, this has furthered the regional interest in gastronomy, where simple, genuine ingredients reign alongside the region’s beautiful floral wines.

Parovel Producers

The other significant collision in Friuli is climatic. Here the Mediterranean meets the continental climate and cool air descents from the Alps creating unique weather patterns. This, combined with the indigenous olive cultivar Bianchera-Belica offers a potential for absolutely sensational olive oil. The Bianchera cultivar probably derives its name from the colour change from green to black (veraison), which occurs remarkably late and often never completes, even when super ripe. This in turn means that the fruit retains very high nutritional values and the polyphenol count is typically extremely high. The Bianchera cultivar lives well on the marly-arenaceous soils surrounding the gulf of Trieste and also on the limestone soils of the Karst plateau and has adapted to resist the cold temperatures brought by the bora producing true, cool climate extra virgin olive oil.

So the EVOO potential in this understated region is hugely interesting. Yet there are few people who take olive cultivation as seriously as the Parovel family, who we are thrilled to have discovered. Dedicated to olives and grapes since 1898, the Parovel family show a rare commitment to their groves surrounding the village of Caresana-Mačkolje. In this village, you can still find the old mill with millstones made of granite where all the growers of the area used to bring their olives to be pressed. Today, the current generation of the Parovel family have an immaculate Pieralisi line for cold pressing fully controlled by Euro Parovel. His sister Elena brings her passion for excellence and true love of her land to the business, which she runs with grace and dedication. Elena is also hugely community minded and has chaired the committee for the development of EVOO of Trieste since 2000 as well as working on a social farming project integrating disabilities in to the world of work. Elena is naturally enthusiastic, curious and loves baking bread… all rather wonderful attributes. We are delighted to share their exceptional olive oils with you.

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Frantoio Parovel, Trieste
Parovel cultivars Frantoi
Parovel Rozo
ROZÓ
Rozó is a tribute to Rosa and Zoran Parovel, parents of Elena and Euro. A blend of Bianchera, Leccino, Maurino and Buga, we love it for its aromatic perfume featuring bright green bean, sage and rosemary. High in polyphenols it has a very slight sweetness at the finish making it a wonderful pair for oven baked fish, minestre and soups of all types as well as white meat.

Frantoio Parovel

ROZÓ
Parovel Ul'ka
UL’KA
Ul'ka, meaning Olive in the local dialect is a monocultivar Bianchera. It is the latest cultivar to harvest in Friuli yet is stays totally green. Featuring artichoke, thistle and fine minerality it has very high polyphenol levels (it has even been known to top 1,000mg/kg). Wonderful with raw fish, meat and vegetables, this incredible oil is a real elixir and is produced in tiny quantities.

Frantoio Parovel

UL’KA

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