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The extra-virgin olive oil is considered the most wholesome condiment ; in fact the traditional natural food, which uses olive oil, and the moderate use of wine can improve the quality and the duration of life. The olive tree growing dates back to the Etruscan Age and then to the Roman Age. It was imported from Greece in Southern Italy called Magna Grecia and then it spread in the peninsula until the border of its climatic area: the Apennines. Beyond this barrier the climate is too cold for this Mediterranean tree. Northern Tuscany is therefore a border area for this cultivation. The trees are smaller and their trunk is almost always damaged by cold; but, perhaps for the different climatic conditions, the olive oil produced in Northern Tuscany has unique and incomparable characteristics. The olive oil of Northern Tuscany is of high quality, less sour, more savoury and stabler than southern olive oils. The appellation contrôlée " Toscano " with the additional geographic mention " Montalbano " is reserved to the extra-virgin olive oil obtained from the following varieties of olive trees, which must be present one hundred per cent in the olive groves: Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccino, Pendolino, Rossellino, Piangente. It is produced in the area between the provinces of Pistoia, Prato and Florence. Its characteristics are: color from green to gold yellow ; fruit smell with traces of artichoke, almond, other mature fruit and green leaf; slightly hot fruit savoury .