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What is Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
Put simply, it is the fresh juice of crushed olives, with no faults.
Olive oil, now so popular, can be confusing. Here we will try to give some basic facts to help you understand the grading process and to help you to choose the right oil for you.
The three main terms you will need are; ‘Extra Virgin’, ’Virgin’; and ‘Pure’.
Australian olive growers generally are aiming to produce only high quality extra virgin olive oils. This procedure starts in the olive grove itself. Keeping our trees healthy and disease free produces healthy fruit. Knowing when to and how much to water and fertilise the trees. Harvesting is a critical time. From the end of March you will see growers walking amongst the trees looking at the fruit colour, squeezing the fruits and planning the optimum harvest time. This will vary with variety and location.
Once harvest time is decided, the idea is to get the fruit off the tree and to the press as soon as possible to ensure fresh tasting oil. Fruit that has fallen on the earth or sat in bins for days can give stale or musty or even rancid tastes to the oil, disqualifying it from being classed extra virgin.
The press itself is the next important link in the chain of good oil. Luckily, Australia has excellent standards and controls over these areas.
When we the grower finally get our oil back in drums to be bottled, it is then that the testing starts. Chemistry centres test the oil for us to ensure that the free fatty acid level is below the 1% required for one of the tests for the oil to be classed as extra virgin. If all the growing, harvesting and pressing protocols have been followed this should be the case, with most Australian oils falling well below the 1% and usually .3% or .4%.
Another test run for us is the polyphenol count. This does not have a bearing on the class of the oil but is an indication of the bitterness caused by the level of polyphenols, which are where we find the anti-oxidants that are so healthy for us.
Once the oil has passed the chemical grading of less than 1% for Extra Virgin, 1% to 2% for Virgin, the remainder is classed as Pure, which can also include refined oils.
The next step is the organoleptic test. Panels of judges taste the oils in much the same way as wine judges. International standards allow for a nil fault taste, that is none of the negative flavours. Olive oils have many flavours depending on variety and where they are grown, how they are harvested. Some flavours are positive some are negative. The negatives include those mentioned before such as musty, rancid. Positives are grassy, banana, apple, leafy, butter and more. The oil also has fruitiness and bitterness. Good oil will be where both are present but one does not overpower the other.
You will see oils marketed as ‘mild’, ‘medium’ and ‘robust’. This will be mostly governed by the variety. The WA Mission used by Felicity’s Garden will always give a robust oil. This means a strong flavour with a peppery taste at the back of the throat. We are in the process of planting another variety to give us a mild oil, which we may also blend with the Mission to give a medium flavoured oil. We will keep you informed of progress.
It is the hope of Australian growers to always present oils that are fresh and of the highest quality. Our marketing aim is to teach you that the taste difference between cheaper, older imported oil and oil freshly pressed here in Australia, is well worth the difference in price.
To order our Extra Virgin Olive Oil click here.
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