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)

When to consume Extra Virgin Olive Oil and shelf life | Frantoi
As a general rule of thumb, Olive Oil has an 18 month shelf life. To be honest, if you buy dark glass bottles, sealed with the best caps and bottled under inert gas, your oil should last well beyond this.
466
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-466,single-format-standard,theme-stockholm,stockholm-core-2.4,wc-braintree-body,woocommerce-no-js,select-child-theme-ver-1.1.2,select-theme-ver-9.6,popup-menu-fade,,qode_menu_,qode-single-product-thumbs-below,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.11.0,vc_responsive
Frantoi - Fresh EVOO

When to consume Extra Virgin Olive Oil and shelf life

As a general rule of thumb, Olive Oil has an 18 month shelf life. To be honest, if you buy dark glass bottles, sealed with the best caps and bottled under inert gas, your oil should last well beyond this.

New season Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is a complete joy – in the first 3 or 4 months after it comes off the press the vibrant green nectar is brimming full of antioxidants and fresh, peppery deliciousness. If you do nothing else this winter, you must eat bruschetta to enjoy your new season oil in its full glory.

 

The Italian way is to buy your full year’s requirement of EVOO immediately after the harvest and often directly from a Frantoio. This has been done for generations and forms a key cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet.