Robert Bauer and Josef Reiterer make a series of vinegars in Germany all of them from French wine made from the fruit: in this case black currants (crème de cassis). It is my all time favorite vinegar for mixing with club soda in the summer. Just a splash in soda turns the whole drink into a pink sweet summer spritzer!

Blackcurrants were banned from the United States in the early 1900s because they carried a disease that affected the pine logging industry. The federal ban was lifted in 1966, but several states still outlaw its cultivation.

The color of this almost forgotten fruit is dark and intense. The flavor of the vinegar is complex and unique – sweetness comes through as does the small bite from the acidic acid. You can use the vinegar in your soda, to deglaze a pan, on top of a chicken salad, or with fresh peaches!

Carm originates in the same region of the Portugal that brings us Madeira. We started carrying Carm over the summer and could barely keep this organic gem on the shelves.

Carm is unique because the Portuguese seldom export their oils – it is the only Portuguese oil we carry. The estate is very old and follows the traditional practices for harvesting and milling the olives. Olives are removed from the trees and often milled that same day, ensuring minimal bruising and deterioration that could effect flavor.

The oil starts very buttery and smooth, hits its stride with a slight flush of spring green, jumps in with a high note of pepper right as you swallow, and then finishes with a lingering fullness of butter – circling you back to where you started.

Gurpin is a very subtle oil, a quiet tower of strength from the north of Italy – easily holding its own against the bold peppery oils of the Southern part of Italy. Single varietal Taggiasca olives are picked by hand and pressed within five hours.

The floral aroma leads the way into a fullness of texture that rolls around your tongue evoking the essence of butter with a white pepper finish.

It is the nuances of this oil that make it extraordinary – nuances that could make it one of your favorites as well.

Citrus fruit oil has a brightness, a sparkle, a flavor that dances on your tongue. Unlike most infused oils, where the infusion is added to the oil after the oil is pressed, Mara Colonna presses together the organic lemons, the oranges, or the Calabrian bergamot and the olives.

Originally intended as a method of cleaning the presses (very similar to putting a lemon down your garbage disposal to clean) the byproduct was tasted and deemed amazing.

I adore the sparkle, the bite, the extra layer of flavor from the citrus oil. The orange oil is fabulous on top of grilled fish, the lemon oil brings chicken soup to a new layer of sophistication, and the bergamot oil is smooth and very floral – great drizzled right as dishes are served.

The best part is that one can try all of the oils we carry in 250 mL bottles in a convenient sampler. Enjoy the sparkle!

The full name of what we call Maussane is, Moulin Jean Marie Cornille Huile D’Olivede la Vallee des Baux de Provence and then the address states Maussane Les Alpilles, which, one could argue, is quite a mouthful. It is fitting that this oil has such a big name.

Maussane is the exemplar, the zenith, the hero, the pinnacle of the buttery, full-bodied, voluptuous French oil.

Yes, we directly import the oil. Yes, the oil is pressed with granite stones in a 17th century building. Yes, they keep the oil in vats to allow the sediment to settle naturally. And yes, the olives are grown in an AOC protected area.

All you really need to know is that adding Maussane to your meal – whether it be on pasta, fresh arugula, drizzled on a grilled steak, or with warm bread – adding Maussane elevates that meal to the realm of poetry.

Tiburtini olive oil, I love for several reasons. First of all, the olives are harvested from the Tivoli estate outside of Rome, Emperor Hadrian’s country abode. The same Hadrian of the Hadrian wall fame (divided England and Scotland). I get dorked about the history.

But I am not sure if I would get as dorked if the olive wasn’t so elegant and accessible. The nose is sweet with a hint of citrus. The smooth texture of the unfiltered oil tastes buttery and feels soft on my tongue. After swallowing there is a slight bite of pepper at the back of the throat. The lingering taste of both those components joust gently: butter in the front with tinge of pepper at the back.

Last but not least, the oil is organic, unfiltered, and comes from the first cold pressing. In short, perfection.

mailorder-able!