Italian Olive Oil Tasting

When I think of the Mediterranean diet I automatically think of Italian olive oil. That beautiful green yellow liquid gold that is the product of a lot of hard work, love and attention. I admit that I also think of tomatoes, eggplant, basil and all of the wonderful summer produce that Italy has to offer. The most important element, at least to me is, the olive oil. It was Homer who first referred to olive oil as Liquid Gold.

My family owns an olive orchard in Greece and I have participated in olive collection, transportation and the extracting of the green gold olive juice. My experience through the entire process taught me that olive oil production is truly a labour of love.

Last year I participated in a Professional Olive Oil Taster seminar over the course of four days in Pienza, Tuscany. Scrutinizing olive oils from all over the world gave me a sensitivity to the nuances of flavour that olive oil can possess. The process also enlightened me to the potential defects olive oils can have.

Read on to learn more about this ancient food, medicine and fuel source. We will take a look at the olive tree, its fruit and its juice. We will look at the definitions and classifications of olive oil. Finally, we will look at various ways to consume Italian olive oil and be way more aware when doing olive oil tasting.

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The Olive Tree

Olea europaea L. is the Latin name for the olive tree most commonly used for cultivation today. Left unattended the olive tree will assume the form of a bush or shrub. It will grow a twisted trunk in a clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere. Today due to cloning there are hundreds of different cultivars.

Olive trees are hardy and draught, disease and fire resistant. They have both superficial and deep roots. The superficial roots are for slight superficial rains. The deep roots are to access deep sources of water. The olive tree can be cultivated in all areas which have mild winters and hot dry summers. The olive tree flourishes where other tree types do not. This is why Mark Twains says of the olive tree…

Those fast friends of a worthless soil.

Mark Twain in Innocents Abroad when speaking of the olive tree and the cactus.

Olive oil and the olive tree are traditionally associated with the mediterranean basin, also because of the climate. Over the past 30-40 years however, olive cultivation has expanded considerably to other continents. South America, Australia, Asia and South Africa have seen large increases in olive groves.

The olive tree has a significant presence in most of the major religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam). It symbolizes peace, longevity and rejuvenation.

Ancient Olive Trees

The Ancient Romans considered the olive tree to be one of the three sacred plants. The three sacred plants were the olive, the fig and the grape vine. They kept samples of each one of these in the centre of the Roman Forum. This tradition is still maintained today.

The olive tree has a history that outlives the ancient romans and begins much earlier. In the search to determine which tree is the oldest and most ancient of the living olive trees there is much competition. It is difficult to scientifically determine the accuracy of the claims suggesting which one is indeed the oldest. That being said, below you will find the oldest living olive trees that still bear fruit that we know of.

Noah’s Sisters

Noah’s Sisters as they are called, are located in Lebanon. They are thought to be possibly the oldest olive tress at around 6000 years old. Located in the villas of Bechealeh.

Al Badawi

The Al Badawi olive tree located in Bethlehem is said to be be somewhere between 4000-5000 years old. This tree is also considered to be one of the oldest living tree in the world.

Vouves

The olive tree in Vouves, Crete is at least 3000 years old and still produces fruit.

Palombara Sabina

The area of Palombara Sabina is located in the Sabine Hills just outside of Rome. With regards to these Italian olive trees, there is recorded documentation to indicate that the trees have been around for at least 2000 years.

The historian Strabo (late first century BC) writes that “the whole ground of Sabina is extraordinarily rich in olive trees.”

Olive Oil Press

In the photo above you can see the containers of olives waiting to be pressed. In order to produce a high quality olive oil every step in the process must be cared for with great attention. Including getting the olives into the press as soon as possible after harvesting.

Definition and Classification of Olive Oils

The Ancient Romans

The Ancient Romans had a classification system for olive oil. The type of olive oil you had access to was related to your social class.

• Oleum ex albis ulivis: This was oil from green or white olives and was for the upper echelons of society, patricians and nobles.
• Oleum viridis: This was oil from green olives that likely had a strong flavour and was of very high quality.
• Oleum maturum: This was oil from ripe olives and was the most common.
• Oleum caducum: This oil came from olives that were picked up off of the ground and was reserved for lower class individuals.
• Oleum ciborium: Oil lampante meaning lamp oil. Of the lowest quality and was reserved for slaves.

Todays Classification System

EVOO or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Extra Virgin olive oil is defined as being a cold extracted virgin olive oil. It must have an acidity (oleic acid) of less than 0.8%. It cannot have any sensory defect and must have a fruitiness indication of more than zero.

Virgin Olive Oil

Virgin olive oil is a virgin oil with no more than 2% acidity. The sensory defects score is greater than zero but less than 2.5. It must have a fruitiness score of more than zero.

Lampante

Lampante is virgin olive oil which has an oleic acid acidity of more than 2%. It has sensory defects score of 3.5 or higher. If the defects score is less than 3.5 but the fruitiness score is zero then this is also classified as lampante. Lampante is intended for refining purposes.

Blended Olive Oil

This type of olive oil is a blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oil that results in an acidity of less than 1%. This oil can be used for human consumption.

There are plenty more categories. This is just a brief overview of the main ones. Suffice to say that for your own personal consumption you really want to be sticking to EVOO. Extra virgin olive oil. You can consider virgin olive oil as well for things like frying or processing where the structure will be altered anyway. Absolutely nothing below virgin olive oil. Please, I beg you.

How to Properly Taste Olive Oil

There are entire courses and seminars dedicated to professional olive oil tasting. Courses for example that are similar to the one I took in Pienza.

For professionals it is important to have a blind tasting in that they do not know the name or the country of origin for the oil they are tasting. This makes the results more objective. Another thing that olive oil tasting panels do is to calibrate the panel before tasting begins.

What does calibrating the panel mean? It means that all of the panel judges must be on the same page more or less when evaluating levels of fruitiness, pungency and other qualities they are looking for.

For the individual consumer olive oil tasting does not need to be that complicated.

Step 1: Gather a few oils together preferably from different countries of origin or at least different regions within the country. For your first try keep the number of oils to 4 or 5 maximum.

Step 2: Place a small sample (10-15mL) of each oil in a small glass that can be covered.

Step 3: For each sample follow this process. Heat the sample a little by holding the base of the glass in the palm of your hand while still covered. Give the glass a little swirl and then uncover and stick your nose right in the glass to take a good long sniff. (similar to wine). What fragrances or odours jump out at you? Does the fragrance remind you of something? A meal, an experience, like lying down on freshly cut grass? Make a note of your observations.

Step 4: Taste the oil. To properly taste the oil you kind of want to suck it in and allow air to pass over the sample in your mouth. This will also give you sensations or reminders of fruits, vegetables or other things. Does this process make you cough lightly? Coughing is an indicator of pungency. This is a very good sign.

Try not to use bread when tasting olive oil as this can impact your perception of the flavour. Also, you can use slices of green apple to cleanse your palate between tastings.

What to Look for When Olive Oil Tasting

The International Olive Oil Council has created a set of parameters to assist in panel evaluations of olive oils but the definitions require experience and a base line. What I have done below is give you a list of some of both the positive and negative odours and flavours that can result from the attributes of the olive oil.

Positive Olive Oil Tasting Attributes

There are several major positive olive oil attributes than you can look for when tasting olive oil.

• Almond: a light smell that recalls fresh or dried almond
• Apple: a recollection of this fruit whether red or green
• Artichoke: a smell recalling raw artichoke
• Astringent: a puckering sensation that is created in the mouth from tannin
• Bitter: this is a preferred characteristic taste of olive oils providing it is not too intense
• Fruity: this is a range of smells that range from fresh to ripe. Fruitiness is considered green if the range of smells is similar to green grass characteristic of green olives. Fruitiness is considered ripe when it recalls ripe fruit and is characteristic of oil made from ripe olives.
• Green grass: recalls freshly cut grass
• Hay: reminiscent of dried grass
• Pungent or Spicy: is a tactile sensation similar to light chilli pepper which usually is felt in the back of the throat and can sometimes force a cough.

Negative Olive Oil Tasting Attributes

There have been estimates that up to 60% of the olive oils marked extra virgin olive oil in supermarkets actually are not. Most of us are used to tasting poor olive oils so we have become used to it. Once you start trying and tasting various good quality extra virgin olive oils the defects and the negative attributes start to jump off your palate. It takes practise but with these guidelines it is a start to being more discerning in your olive oil choices.

There are several negative attributes. What I am going to do is to point out the most important and the major ones. The negative attributes are more difficult to define and require in many cases that you can actually smell it in order to identify it.

• Flat: attributed to oils that have lost their characteristic aroma and seem to have neither taste or smell
• Fusty: this negative attribute is the result olives fermenting in piles while in storage waiting to be processed
• Earthy: results from musty humid odour because it was pressed from unwashed muddy olives
• Grubby: smell imparted by grubs of the olive fly. The odour is both rotten and putrid at the same time.
• Muddy: typical odour of oil that has been stored on its own sediment for too long
• Rancid: oil oil that has suffered oxidation from exposure to air or light
• Heated: prolonged heating during extraction process

Italian Olive Oil

All up and down the Italian peninsula you can find olive groves and olive oil production. The geological and climate conditions vary considerably from north to south in Italy. As you can imagine this affects the flavour profile of the oils.

Liguria Olive Oil

Generally speaking when we taste oils from the northern parts of Italy, the flavour profile tends to be more delicate and less pungent. There is often the freshness of fresh grass and a subtle note of herbs. Regions that are famous for this type of delicate flavour and aroma are Liguria Olive Oil and olive oils from the Lombardy region. The Ligurian oils are best served drizzled over grilled fish or over salads.

Tuscan Olive Oil

Moving towards the centre of the Italian peninsula we find the region of Tuscany. This region is internationally renowned for its production of olive oils. The terrain is very challenging and olives and Sangiovese grapes love this difficult terrain the most. From Tuscan olive oil we can expect oils with strong flavours but also a selection of oils that are delicate and very fruity.

Olive Oils from Puglia and Sicily

Super hot dry summers give these two regions a very special profile when speaking of their olive oils. The olive oils from Puglia and Sicily tend to be quite pungent and strong in their flavours. They also tend to have notes of the produce of the terrain, tomato leaf, artichoke and so on. Choose these oils when you need an oil that is going to make it’s presence felt in a dish.

Roman Olive Oil

When I mention Roman olive oil, I am referring to the area in and around Rome. What we refer to as the province of Rome. A particularly exciting area is that of Palombara Sabina. This area is home to several living olive trees that are in the neighbourhood of two thousand years old.

The olive oil from this area has earned the designation of Product of Protected Origin (DOP). Sabina DOP is a symbol of the type of quality you can expect from olives and olive oil coming from there.

Moving slightly west and north of Palombara Sabina we find the province of Viterbo. It is not technically Rome but it is still in the Lazio region. Viterbo has its own product of protected origin the Tuscia DOP olive oil. This oil is a blend of Frantoio, Leccino and Caninese olive cultivars.

Strong flavours define Tuscia DOP oils and they have a gorgeous green colour. This is probably my preferred oil for this area.

Olive Oil Tour

So have I gotten you excited about trying different olive oils? I have to say that the best way to cultivate your palate is to try a lot of Italian olive oils. One way to do this is in a controlled context by taking an olive oil tour. Olive oil tours are available in Rome, just outside of Rome and as a day trip from Rome. There is plenty to suit your needs here.

If you are looking for other things to do while visiting Rome and surrounding areas take a look at my article on the Best Things to do in Rome.