Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Quality of Italian Olive Oil

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Quality of Italian Olive Oil

We will be visiting Italy this summer, and would like to bring home some olive oil as gifts for friends. I have seen ratings for wine from Italy, but never olive oil. Does anyone know of web sites that provide ratings on olive oil from Italy? I am sure there are many to choose from, so I want to know what to look for in a quality olive oil.

I found that the best olive oil can be found in Tuscany, around the Lucca area.

I have found several sites with good information on olive oil. Here's one that may help you... http://www.initaly.com/shop/oliveoil/oliveoil.htm

You vill buy some!!!

I agree Art -- the information is designed to make you WANT their product. [and I DO, IDO!] On the other hand I have no doubt that they are describing an industry practice -- and that their facts, while self-serving, are probably accurate:)

I have been to Italy many times and each time I learn a little more about olive oil and will try to pass on some info which I hope clarifies this subject. First of all I will limit myself to Extra Virgin Olive Oil as this is the only oil worth considering in terms of a quality product. It is true that Olive oil is not as controlled as a product as wine but this is due to the fact that on the one hand the quantities produced by a typical farm is very small and second because the market is dominated by the multinationals such as Unilever, Nestle etc who have no interest in changing certain regulations as it would force out into the open such practices (though allowed as the law stands)of pressing olives in Italy which come from elsewhere and then stating that the product was made in Italy. Italy along with other European producers is beginning to use the pretty strict geographical regulations which in Italy are IGP and DOP. Better Olive Oils generally have IGP or DOP labels on the bottle but there are still excellent producers which still do not use them. One such producer is Fattoria Pagnana (www.fattoria-pagnana.com ) which produces a wonderful Extra Virgin Olive Oil from olives hand picked on their Estate just 10 miles S.E. of Florence. For Olive Oil to have the Extra Virgin description the acidity level must be below 1 %. The Oil which is mentioned above on the InItaly site has an acidity level of 0.5 %. The percentage for Fattoria Pagnana ranges between 0.12 % and 0.14 %. You cannot get much better than that. Tasting it the first time in the Fattoria poured over a thick slice of typical Tuscan bread was a truly memorable experience. Regarding the acidity level it is worth noting that this is determined by a number of factors. They include: the variety of olive trees planted, the weather over the course of the ripening season, the time of picking (the best oil generally comes from olives picked from mid November to mid December - some pick later to get a higher yield but the quality is poorer), the time from when the olives are picked to when they are pressed (after about 36/48 hours the acidity level of the olives increases - be doubtful if someone says that the olives are pressed immediately after picking as it is generally physically impossible unless they have a huge production - olive picking is time consuming and hard work and in the cold of November it is unusual if someone can pick much more than a hundredweight of olives a day), and finally the cleanliness of the press when the olives pass through the pressing process. The last point is important and can be compared to buying mince at the butcher. When the butcher passes some meat through the mincer he should ignore the first couple of inches which comes out as that was of the previous customer. With olives, your batch can be tainted by poor quality olives which passed through before. I know that Fattoria Pagnana ensures that the presses are spotless before each batch of their olives passes through. I hope you are all now sufficiently tempted!

Good question and thanks for the informative answers, especially Modeen and Ian. Since my last trip to Italy where I had salad with no dressing other than DIVINE olive oil, I've been trying to find something that tastes the same. Not much luck, despite the extra virgin label. Simply not the flavorful oil found in Italy. I'm seriously considering importing that - and wine - for my personal use!

I forgot to add that Fattoria Pagnana organizes special weeks during the Olive Harvest period when you can participate in picking the olives etc. If you think that a good Extra Virgin Olive Oil is bliss you should try it when it is just pressed. It is actually cloudy and has almost a peppery taste. It seems alive - pétillant as I think the French would say. Forget the words -just try it - it's heavenly!

Ian- do you work for gourmet magazine? An incredible wonderful description-you really opened my eyes up--I'm so used to the extra virgin oil here in states-couldn't understand why everyone was actually carrying those heavy bottle home. I am copying your article and when I go back will use your post to find the good stuff--many thanks!!!

Hi, I am one of those lugging bottles back! Something I did not see in the posts and I am not sure if it is redundant with extra virgin, but "first cold pressing" was emphasized. Our favorites were from Umbria but we did have limited tasting. Olio del Fraticello from Torgiano was one we liked. Enjoy!!

As much as I love the Italian wines, I would much prefer to lug back several bottles of olive oil. I can get the wines at home but never know just how long the olive oil here has been around. And it lasts a whole lot longer than a bottle of wine!

The September 1999 issue of National Geographic had an interesting article called, "Olive Oil, Elixir of the Gods". In addition to a lot of the information discussed above, it compares the quality and production from various Mediterranean countries, as well as the history of olive oil in the region. Definately worth the read.

Sorry for the time to get back but regarding the words "first pressing" and "cold pressing" you must realize that these have little value even though they appear often and are put on the bottles mostly to convince unsophisticated buyers as to the value of their product. All Extra Virgin Olive Oil comes from the first pressing. Second pressing (i.e. of the remains of the first pressing) produces a totally inferior product which, depending upon the strength and temperature of the first pressing, is often called Olio di Sansa which is often used in providing the oil in tins of Tunny (Tuna)- definitely not a high quality oil. Second, cold pressing is a misnomer as to produce Extra Virgin Olive Oil I understand that "cold pressing" can arrive at temperatures of up to 30 degrees Centigrade. This temperature facilitates the flow of the oil. In the old days the oil was literally cold pressed (November & December being cold months) as the equipment used did not permit a higher temperature - Fattoria Pagnana has the old equipment still on display. What really matters is the end result and here, apart from the taste and colour, you must look at the acidity level - generally the lower the better. Remember that with wines you can cut the product with an inferior but more alcoholic wine to boost the alcoholic level but you cannot cut the Olive Oil to REDUCE the acidity level.

Ian, thanks for the clarification - I suspected Extra Virgin was first pressing. I guess I was mislead in Italy by our guide in Assisi - she was the one who wrote out, in Italian, what I should look for and she included first cold pressing - and she gives cooking classes!!!! Ya just never know. Your explanation sounds right - now to check acidity levels and guess what, none of the bottles I lugged back or bought here(bottled in Italy) have acidity levels indicated. So now what?? :)

Forget Italian oil. Use wesson oil , its cheap and flows like a river. Try it babe you will like it. From a Gourmet cook in Ga.

Antonio, you only live once... go for the Italian stuff and forget Florence Henderson!

You are visiting Italy, why not sample the oils and judge for yourself? Americans seem so unsure, and unwilling to put a foot wrong, unlike their president - follow his lead!

It really works wonders as a sex lubricant.

We parked across the street from a "supermarket" in Montalcino. Popped in after visiting the town, and picked up some snacks. Noticed the flavored olive oils and bought a bottle of flavored with black truffle (actually there's a piece of black truffle in the bottle). It is MAGNIFICENT. I may go to pieces when it runs out...

And speaking of olive oils...do you refrigerate it after opening? Or any other storage tips if you buy several bottles? What about storing the balsamic vinegars?

Oil which is refrigerated will last longer but this is only necessary if you take a long time to finish a bottle. Generally it is only necessary to keep it in a cool place but more importantly away from light. A really good oil which has not been heavily filtered (thereby keeping more of its flavour) will throw a deposit. You may therefore want to filter yourself a bottle you have just opened say in the summer following i.e. circa 6 - 9 months after production. The more mass produced oils do not throw off a sediment.

is there a limit on the amount of olive oil we can bring back into the u.s.? do you claim it? excuse me if you think the questions are redundant.

Atrip to the Lungharotti (sp?) Olive Oil Museum in Torgiano is well worth it. We had the pleasure of staying with friends in Apullia/Puglia who have an olive grove and it was at their suggestion that we went. They gave us 15 litres of their own first "cold press" oil to bring home; no lables, just utilitarian green metal cans, 5 x 3 litres. We had no customs problem getting them home (Canada), but it was the heaviest, gurgliest carry-on I've ever brought on to a plane...and worth every delicious ounce/millelitre!

Ian, Thanks so much for the info. For all of you who have been to Florence and Siena, I assume I can pick up a few bottles of high quality olive oil without having to visit the producers? Are there any other brands that are particularly good and can be found in these cities? Thanks. TTT.

Linda, Throughout Florence you can find these little wine shops that also sell olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Just ask the person in the shop for the best olive oils he/she sells. This is what we did. I was armed with an article, about Tuscany, from Victoria magazine that had a picture of a particular olive oil that I was searching out. I checked out many of the "wine" shops for it and everyone was sold out of it. As luck would have it I found it in a shop that was right near my hotel (loggiato dei serviti). If your at all interested the olive oil came from Castello Banfi (the producers of Brunello di Montalcino wine) You can check out their website at castellobanfi.com and read about their olive oil in, I think, their wine section.