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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Olive oil in the making
October 11, 2017 In EVOO

The 2017 Harvest

The Olive Harvest has begun in Italy in the past few days and so we thought you may like to know what to expect from your 2017 oils.

This year is characterised by one main feature: lack of water.  It has been an exceptionally dry year throughout our beautiful country with some regions experiencing as little as 200mm of rain over the winter and spring.  The summer was consistently warm and dry and the olives subsequently have a high pit to pulp ratio. A few welcome showers during September have made a great difference and the groves we have visited recently are in great condition: perfectly healthy, beautiful green olives.

 

The quality from the frantoi we work with is expected to be extremely high in 2017: amazing perfumes, great concentration and high polyphenols.  It’s a very exciting year for Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Italy.  The expected volumes are lower than average due to the dry growing season, so to avoid disappointment, we encourage you to place your orders early this year.  Harvest is beginning, time to get ready for your first Bruschetta of the year!