Extra Virgin Olive Oil

“The green gold”
Extra virgin olive oil Chianti Classico DOP

The extra virgin olive oil, also called, “green gold ” is another important product of the Chianti. Starting from the year 2000 the extra virgin olive oil will have the possibility to receive the Denomination of Origin (DOP), given by the EU, which will be a great guaranty of quality for the consumer. The olive tree, which is typical Mediterranean, finds on the hills of the Chianti an ideal habitat and gives a low quantity of oil of a very good quality. In this area an olive tree yields on average 15 kg of olives, which are about a litre and half oil per plant. That’s a very low yield, compared to those in Spain, Greece, south Italy and even on the coast of Tuscany, where an olive tree can yield until 100 kg of olives.

The quality of the oil depends on many factors, which are:

• The morphological characteristics of the soil and the exposure of the fields.
• The different varieties of olive trees (frantoiano, moraiolo, leccino, pendolino).
• The pruning of the plants, at least once every two years, in order to let them always fruit on young wood
• The hand-picking, which allows to pick the olives at the right ripening time, which varies from variety to variety. That’s very expensive but necessary, in order to have a high quality oil. The olives are usually harvested between the end of October and the beginning of December.
• The storing of olives in baskets where air can circulate, in order to prevent them from going mouldy.
• The careful washing of the olives and defoliation, in order to have a slightly bitter oil.
• The pressing, which must happen within 24-36 hours from harvesting.
• The use of water with a temperature of max 25 C during the phases of the pressing, in order to maintain all the flavours which would be spoilt by using water with higher temperatures, which, on the other hand, would permit to obtain more oil, but of an inferior quality.
• The storing of the oil, which has to stay in a dark and cool location, with a temperature between 10 and 20 C.
• The filtering, if necessary, made with cotton wool, in order to preserve all the healthy substances of the oil.

All these characteristics make it possible to obtain an oil whit a very low acidity level (around 0,2% ).
Remember that 95% of the extra-virgin olive oils in the world have an acidity level which ranges from 0.5% to 0.99%!

Acidity develops in oils obtained from olives collected from the ground when they have already fallen or olives which have been stored for too much time, maybe in nylon or plastic bags. Other causes of a high acidity level can be the malfunctioning or the inaccurate cleaning of the pressing machines. Sometimes it can be caused by parasite of the olives. No wonder if you recognise the smell of artichoke or cut grass in our oil. These are characteristics you will find in few other oils! Oils with fruity flavours have a piquant taste, which is a sign of very low acidity and high quality.