“Extra virgin” is a legal floor, not a promise. Plenty of oil clears that bar and still tastes like nothing. Here’s what actually matters — and what we hold ourselves to.
Single source
Most supermarket oil is blended from several countries and crops. You can’t trace it, and neither can they. Quality starts with knowing the grove. Ours: San Procopio, Calabria.
Free acidity
By law, extra virgin olive oil must sit below 0.8% free acidity. Lower is better — a sign of healthy, undamaged olives processed quickly. Ours runs low.
Polyphenols
These are the natural antioxidants that make good oil taste alive — that peppery catch at the back of your throat. A more bitter, pungent oil is usually a healthier one.
Harvest timing, speed & temperature
Picked green at veraison, from tree to mill within hours, pressed within 24 hours, and kept under 27°C. Greener olives mean less oil but far more flavor and nutrients — and low heat protects the aromatic compounds.
Filtration
Unfiltered oil looks rustic but degrades faster — the suspended matter is what spoils it. We filter for purity and keep the flavor intact. If a bottle can’t tell you these things, it’s hiding them. Ours are on the label.