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)

HOW EVOO CAN BENEFIT PEOPLE WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES
October 14, 2016 In Health

How EVOO can benefit people with Type 1 Diabetes

People with Type 1 Diabetes are well aware that for the best control of their blood sugar they must try to ensure that they include in their diets a high proportion of those foods with low Glycaemic Index (GI) in terms of their carbohydrate intake. This ensures that their blood sugar will rise more slowly after meals and therefore leads to better overall diabetic control. However, many people find it difficult to stick to the optimal diet and consumption of high GI foods is common. A recent study from the University of Naples,1  looked at the quality of the fats in the diet of people with Type 1 diabetes and in particular the blood glucose response when high GI meals with the same carbohydrate content but different types of fats are consumed. The research took three different fats: Low Fat, Saturated Fat (in this instance butter) and Monounsaturated fat (EVOO) and compared the rates of blood glucose rise in the different groups. Results clearly showed that in the EVOO group, the rate of rise over the three hours after the meal was significantly lower than in the other two groups. The researchers concluded that using EVOO as the fat contribution in a high GI meal can attenuate the early part of the post meal response in Type 1 diabetes and that this can affect the optimal insulin dosage regime. They suggested that the quality of fat in the diet needs consideration when patients are still finding it difficult to stick to a low GI diet.

 

1 Bozzetto et al Diabetes Care Apr 2016, 39 (4) 518-524;  Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Reduces Glycemic Response to a High–Glycemic Index Meal in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.