There are over 100 types of olive trees, each producing a fruit with distinctive taste and characteristics. Each one has a different oil yield and organoleptic properties.

In the Mediterranean basins this variety of cultivar (tree type) is particular marked, with each region and area having its own mixture of types. Actually, 90% of the world's olive trees are found in the Mediterranean basin.

Olive trees have an incredibly long life span and reach maturity after 20 years. Between 35 and 150 years of age the tree produces the best olives. It is not uncommon for a tree to live up to 200 years. After the trunk disappears, a new shoot begins to grow again. This is why an olive tree seems eternal and continually "renewing".

Olive flowers blossom in May (in the northern hemisphere and in October in the southern hemisphere), and the olive fruits grow at the end of June, their color continuously changing from green to purple to black. As soon as the fruits are ripe, in the period from November to January, they are harvested. The traditional method is known as brucatura, or hand picking. Another manual method is knocking the olives off the tree. In recent years mechanical methods of picking olives have been introduced

In order to produce high quality olive oil no more than 24 hours should elapse from olive harvesting to olive pressing. The olives are stored in well-ventilated rooms. They are then washed to remove natural impurities such as topsoil, leaves and branches. The olives are then pressed using a mechanical system of rotating wheels or hammers. The resulting olive paste is then gently kneaded to allow the separation of the oil, which is then decanted and centrifuged. The resulting extra virgin olive oil, after storage in appropriate containers, is filtered and bottled. No solvent or heat is applied through the process.

Visual Analysis

This is carried out by holding up an olive oil bottle to the light, for the tester to look at three main features: clarity: which is obtained by filtration; density: the quality difference between a dense or a freely running oil is purely subjective color: the difference between a green oil or a yellowish oil depends on the origin and the ripeness and of the olives.

Aromatic Analysis

This is carried out by repeatedly breathing in sharply and deeply, with a long pause between each breath, as our sense of smell tends to get used to a scent.

Taste Analysis

The organoleptic evaluation of olive oil is achieved by taste tests that follow the rules above. The taster holds a little olive oil in his mouth, tasting its quality in a highly professional and skilful manner, in order to discern the various oil characteristics. The main parameters that identify the best oils are fruity, green, bitter, spicy and sweet qualities.