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)

October 29, 2021 In EVOO, In Season

REPLENISH

As the autumn really sets in we only have to look to nature to know that it’s time to replenish our reserves for the winter ahead.  The surrounding trees and bushes are offering us berries and nuts loaded with the antioxidants and nutrients that we need.  We set aside ingredients to sustain us through the colder months either by drying or preserving.  Refilling, restoring, reserving all in anticipation of cold weather ahead when there is less access to fresh produce.

 

With the drop in temperature, we all lean towards more comforting food such as soups, slow cooked dishes, grains, pulses, root vegetables as we seek to be nourished.  Eating what is in season can be deeply rewarding from a nutritional and sensory perspective as well as having massive environmental benefits.

 

To accompany you on this journey towards winter, the arrival of the new harvest of Extra Virgin Olive Oil neatly coincides. The intense level of polyphenols found in our oils when they are just pressed offers an incredible support to our immune systems over the winter.  It is also hugely beneficial for your skin, nails and hair that so readily lose their gloss during the winter months.

 

This is why we offer our olive oil selection just once a year, when the harvest is underway and in order to deliver it to you when it is at its most intense and vibrant in every way.  We want you to receive all of this goodness to replenish your reserves for the winter ahead.