We welcome spring with our new-season olive oil!
What’s different about our Olive Oil?
In late autumn-early winter, olives all around Greece are harvested and taken to the olive oil press. In Sparta, surrounded by olive, orange and lemon trees, Yiorgos and his son Nikos prepare to welcome this season’s olive oil.
What’s different about this olive oil? The olives are hand-picked and hand-selected, to ensure that only the highest quality of olives is used to produce our olive oil. It is of course certified organic, which means that it’s produced with natural and traditional techniques. It is single-variety, as only one variety of olives is used for the production of each olive oil – the famous Koroneiki ‘the royal type’ variety of olives. All of the olive trees are gathered in a single estate, with a unique local terroir. Yiorgos and Nikos press the olives at very low temperatures, and always below 22C (the standard extraction temperature for extra virgin olive oil is 27C according to the EU regulations). The numbers on our labels refer to the extraction temperature that has been used to produce each olive oil. Lower temperature results in less yield, but means that the olive oil retains all of its nutrients. Importantly, most olive oil in Greece is produced later in the season, in December, when the olives are ripe. Early-harvest olive oils, like the ones Yiorgos and Nikos make are produced from September and only until November, with unripe or semi-riped olives (when commercial olive oil are produced much later in the season and even until January). As a result, their olive oil retains chlorophyll and nutrients from the olives (such as Vitamin E) that disappear as the olives mature. Of course, this means that a larger amount of olives is required per litre of olive oil. The cold-extracted olive oil is then placed in large tanks, where it is naturally filtered for up to 4 months. This is a slow, natural sedimentation process that takes several months, so as to ensure that there is no sediment left in the bottles (which would make the olive oil go rancid much faster) and that all the nutrients are retained. As all good things, this is worth waiting for: With a passion for offering extra-virgin olive oil of the highest quality, their olive oil is rich in antioxidents, polyphenols with a very low acidity (see the reports here and here for more details).
Taste the Greek Terroir
The 18°C olive oil is the first-harvest olive oil. Traditionally this is the most precious olive oil, often not sold, but gifted between Greek families. It is organically produced in September to early October, with a completely cold extraction at 16-18C, a few hours after harvest. It comes from unripe green olives and requires large quantities of small olives for its production: around 18kg of olives yield 1 litre of olive oil. A single-variety olive oil, it is a delicate olive oil with a deep green colour. It has a grassy and fruity flavour profile, with aromas of freshly cut green unripe olives, fresh artichokes and radish; velvety notes of fresh tea complete this very unique olive oil. It has a long aftertaste, evoking aromas of fresh green herbs.
The 22°C olive oil is a mid-harvest olive oil, produced from October to mid-November. A monovarietal organic olive oil as well, it is produced by unripe and semi-ripe olives, requiring larger quantities of olives than a commercially produced olive oil. It takes approximately 14kg of olives for 1 litre of this olive oil, when an average organic olive oil requires 7kg of olives, and commercially sold olive oils require around 5kg of olives per litre of olive oil. The 22°C olive oil has a more robust, intense flavour, and a very special complexity. Its tasting notes are slightly peppery, with aromas of semi-ripe olives, green fresh herbs and a prolonged aftertaste.
For the flavoured olive oils, the 17°C Olive Oil with Lemons, Oranges & Thyme, the 21°C Olive Oil with Walnuts, Fennel, Rosemary & Oregano, and the Olive Oil with Apples, Walnuts, Cinnamon, Honey & Sage, Yiorgos and Nikos crush together the olives, fruits, nuts and herbs. This gives these olive oils a very distinct flavour profile, always maintaining the valuable nutrients.
…and in a new bottle!
Yiorgos and Nikos pack the olive oil in brand new glass bottles, a change from the tin we used in the past. A collaborative idea, as many of Oliveology’s customers prefer having a smaller bottle on their kitchen countertop and table, at arms’ reach so that they can drizzle away when cooking or baking. Plus, a beautiful bottle makes for a great gift. As many of you mentioned, offering a bottle of good olive oil as a gift to a host or hostess is now becoming more and more popular. But more than practicality or aesthetics, the glass bottle offers protection from light and heat, with no chances of oxidising or spoilage of the olive oil. It also guarantees that there’s no spillage as it includes a new improved top. The lid is especially designed so that no oxygen can get into the bottle, so that the olive oil keeps fresh for longer. “Glass is also more environmentally friendly and easier to recycle”, Yiorgos and Nikos tell us, as they share that many of their customers in Greece are now upcycling their bottles, turning them into candle holders or even rolling pins to roll our filo.
As we welcome the new-season olive oil and the new glass bottles, we are excited to hear from you. So come by Borough Market and Spa Terminus, join our Olives & Olive Oil Tastings, savour the new-season olive oil. Our blog is filled with recipes with olive oil, including olive oil cakes, recipes for vegetables slowly cooked in olive oil, pies and salads. Let’s cook and bake with olive oil!
So join us, in welcoming our new-season olive oil.
Marianna and the Oliveology team 🍃
