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 - Viola
Frantoi - Viola
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Frantoi - Viola
Frantoio Viola, Umbria

Our journey in to serious, pure, highest quality extra virgin olive oil began at Marco Viola’s door.  It was 2001 and we were spending a few days travelling around Umbria where we had come across Viola olive oil in a restaurant in Montefiascone, both Kasimir and I were blown away by the quality and intensity – it was unlike anything we had ever tasted before.  So, we decided to take a detour and find out where Viola came from.  We arrived at the unassuming frantoio in S. Eraclio di Foligno and knocked on the door, clearly waking somebody up from a post-prandial snooze.  We scrambled together all the Lire we had and bought two bottles of Viola.  We then spent the next 15 years seeking olive oil of a similar quality, but never found anything as good.

Frantoi - Viola

Marco Viola is the pinnacle of precision, honesty, generosity and fairness.  These are qualities that are sadly hard to come by in the shady undergrowth of the world of olive oil.  His attention to detail and commitment to producing the finest extra virgin olive oil, from his land in Umbria is unparalleled.  He is incredibly proud to call himself a farmer and he loves his land, which is why he farms organically.

Surprisingly, only 2% of Italian Olive oil is produced in Umbria.  The climate is moderately mild for central Italy, fairly windy and quite damp thanks to nearby Lake Trasimeno.  This part of the world is beautifully verdant.  The Viola family have been crafting olive oil for 150 years and built their first mill in 1917 in S. Eraclio. The terrain is poor, chalky and very stony with steep slopes reaching up to 500m above sea level – it is not easy land to farm.  They harvest only green olives to ensure a greater concentration of flavour and higher polyphenolic concentration.

Cultivars include Moraiolo, Frantoio and Leccino: the classics.  And the flavour profile throughout the oils is highly elegant and exceptionally well-balanced perfect to add to soups, pasta dishes, grilled meats and a wide range of vegetables both cooked and raw.  If you select the monocultivar Moraiolo (Il Sincero), expect intense artichoke and green bean aromas, the monocultivar Frantoio (Inprivio) features leaner notes of cut grass and green almonds so would be a good choice for fish lovers.
It is hard to think we will ever find oils that satisfy us as much as these – they are exceptional in every sense.

viola.it

Frantoi - Viola Map
Frantoi - Viola
Frantoi Viola Tradizione
TRADIZIONE
A classic blend of indigenous Umbrian cultivars, this full-bodied EVOO is scented with artichoke and wild herbs with a touch of thistle and black pepper. You can use it for everything. It is a total benchmark and we use this oil every day in our kitchen.

Frantoio Viola

TRADIZIONE
Frantoi Viola Colleruita
COLLERUITA DOP Umbria Colli Assisi Spoleto
This complex blend of Moraiolo, Frantoio and Leccino is scented with thistle and black pepper. A brilliant pair for lentil soup, gratinated vegetables or to a great base for Olive Oil Gelato or in a forest fruits reduction.

Frantoio Viola

COLLERUITA DOP Umbria Colli Assisi Spoleto
INPRIVIO
Inprivio (meaning thumb print) is a monocultivar Frantoio. It features complex aromas of artichoke, basil, mint and almond, and is a great pair for steamed or raw fish as well as making fabulous mayonnaise.

Frantoio Viola

INPRIVIO
Frantoi Viola Sincero
IL SINCERO
From century old trees planted by Marco’s grandfather, this monocultivar Moraiolo is incredibly perfumed featuring orange blossom and thistle flower with foraged hedgerow fragrances of Jerusalem sage and chicory. Rich and complex with very fine acidity it accompanies winter soups and roasted meat particularly well.

Frantoio Viola

IL SINCERO
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