Three High-Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil Producers To Know
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In the world of olive oil, extra virgin is king, but even within the extra virgin category there exists a wide range of quality which is reflected in the taste of the final product. In a high-quality extra virgin olive oil you can get grassy, herbal or floral notes while a lesser product may have a bland taste or even a defect like rancidity (indicated by the taste of spoiled fruit).
Producing a high-quality extra virgin olive oil requires great care and precision at every step of the process, and sacrifices are often made to overall yield in order to produce a superior product. This includes picking olives earlier on in the harvest to capture the robust flavors of the young fruit (yielding less oil than picking later in the season), implementing an efficient workflow to get olives to the mill to be processed within hours of picking (to minimize the amount of oxidation that occurs and preserve quality), and processing at lower temperatures (higher temperatures yield more oil but degrades nutritional value and taste).
Below, we’ve highlighted three such producers that, through immense effort, produce world-class, award-winning olive oils.
Laconiko
Where: Laconia, Greece
Who’s behind it: Diamantis and Dino Pierrakos, brothers and fourth generation olive oil producers who brought their family’s single estate extra virgin olive oil to the U.S. market. The decision to join and revamp the family business came when their (now late) father who tended to the groves all his life considered selling the land as he knew couldn’t be its steward forever.
“As we went out promoting our Laconiko oil, we were selling so much more than a new brand of extra virgin olive oil,” Diamantis detailed on the company website. “We were transacting the essence of our family legacy. The oil symbolizes generational aspiration, parental sacrifice, time-honored tradition, hopes, dreams, love, passion, community, connection, integrity and the soul of a family that believes in its product and each other.”
What makes it unique: Laconiko produces an estate oil made with a single varietal, Koroneiki olives, which are known for their higher polyphenol (antioxidant) content, compared to other olive varieties. Their olives are always hand-picked and pressed within four hours of picking, and precise harvesting practices ensure quality that surpasses all standards set by the International Olive Council.
The Laconiko estate sees nine months of summer with abundant sunshine, drought and a cool ocean breeze coming off the Mediterranean. Sandy soil acts as a natural filtration system and as a designated Natura 2000 site it’s protected from environmental contaminants and pollutants. Additionally, Laconiko practices organic farming to further protect its natural habitat.
What to try: Laconiko produces two estate oils, an early harvest (Olio Nuovo) and its bestselling extra virgin olive oil. The earlier harvest yields a more robust extra virgin olive oil with a strong peppery finish (indicating the presence of phenolic compounds) and very low acidity. The classic extra virgin olive oil is a great everyday oil with a medium intensity, low acidity and a high polyphenol count.
Both oils exhibit a high complexity and persistence in taste, with “abundant fruitiness, green grass, sweetness, bitterness, pungency and notes of artichoke.”
Dehesa de la Sabina
Where: Andalusia, Spain
Who’s behind it: Ecológica La Olivilla, an organic olive oil cooperative brought together by a shared goal of “economic, social and environmental sustainability, cooperation, rural life and nature.” This group of producers is hands-on when it comes to decision-making and managing the olive groves and meets regularly to analyze the state of the farm.
What makes it unique: The people that make Dehesa de la Sabina olive oil share a commitment to preserving the biodiversity of the land via sustainable, organic farming practices that will help ensure the longevity of their centuries-old olive trees and act as an example for future generations.
To this end, the farmers have taken courses in organic farming and work to understand and rebuild an ecosystem within their olive grove to help it flourish. Pests like olive flies or worms, for example, have a natural predator –– wasps –– so they added plants to attract wasps to control this pest in a natural way.
What to try: Ecológica La Olivilla produces a robust, medium and mature extra virgin olive oil. The robust oil is characterized by a strong green olive fruitiness and has aromas of almond and banana, olive tree leaf, fig tree leaf, tomato plant and a “sensation of artichoke.” It won a gold award at the 2018 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition and can be paired with salads and grilled vegetables, grilled and stewed meats, used in tomato, bolognese and pesto sauces, and even pairs with extra dark chocolate (+70% cacao).
Frantoi Cutrera
Where: Sicily, Italy
Who’s behind it: Maria, Giusy and Salvatore Cutrera, the children of Giovanni and Maria Cutrera. Giovanni grew up working in an old-school mill that employed stone millstones, mules and presses, and built the family’s first mill in 1979. The siblings and their spouses have been managing the family business since 2000.
What makes it unique: Frantoi Cutrera operates two olive mills with three extraction lines, which allows them to customize extraction techniques according to the variety and degree of ripeness of the olives being processed in order to obtain intense, balanced and fruity oils. Olives are cold-extracted and any by-products are used as organic fertilizer. The company exports its olive oil to more than 30 countries around the world.
What to try: IGP Sicilia, named after the certification it holds (guaranteeing traceability and by definition made with olives harvested, processed, bottled and packaged in Sicily), is a blend of Biancolilla and Nocellara del Belice olives. It has an intense green color and a medium intensity with floral and artichoke aromas. It’s ideal for vegetable sauces, marinated fish, soups, beef carpaccio and vegetable dip.
