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)

Why fresh olive oil is so much better for you
October 28, 2020 In EVOO, Health

What’s so special about new season olive oil?

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is freshly pressed juice that arrives once a year as autumn sets in.  It has absolutely no additives or preservatives and is the only cooking oil made without the use of chemicals or industrial refining.  Just let that sit for a moment.

If you consider freshly pressed orange juice for example, we know that it doesn’t last more than a few days, even in the fridge.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil benefits from a very high concentration of natural preservatives however: its polyphenols, and these protect the oil for the duration of about 18 months.  But what this means is that you don’t really want to invest in an incredible oil when it has been jogging around the supply chain for a year and this is one of the major reasons that we drive our growers and millers crazy during their busiest weeks of the year to get their oils sent off to you as quickly as possible: so that you have the longest enjoyment window. Then it’s up to you.  You have a spectrum of 6 seasons to enjoy them should you so wish.

New season olive oil from freshly pressed green olives (which in our book is what it’s all about) is incredibly vibrant, packed full of intense fresh flavours and high concentrations of polyphenols.  So, it is a fact that new season oil is even better for you.  This coincides brilliantly with the winter, when of course you need this support the most.

It also happens that the flavour profile of new season olive oil works better with other winter ingredients: all of the base notes (root vegetables, grains, pulses, mature cheese, cabbage, chicory, fennel, brassicas etc.) are lifted to new dimensions with the addition of this fresh green elixir.

When you bite into a perfect peach in July or a ripe tomato in August, something happens.  The rules of regular enjoyment go out of the window; your taste buds dance.  It is this sentiment that we hope to bring to your kitchen this winter.