November 2007

The Olave oil is made with a blend of four varietals. Frantoio, Leccino, Arbequina and Coratina. Each of the olive varieties ripens at a different time, which means that when the season for picking starts in late April (we were there for the first official day) not all the olives are ready. That allows them to be gathered steadily through the (Chilean) autumn without any of the varieties staying too long on the tree (more time on the tree adds oil content but reduces the flavor and complexity of the oil.) The pressing is done right on the Elvio Olave's farm using a two-phase continuous process mill. This is the modern technology that most quality driven producers have moved to. The olives are crushed in the first phase, then mashed into a paste in the second. The oil is then separated from the pulp and the natural water in the olive by means of centrifugation. Once the oil is pressed, it does storage tanks for at least a few months. The new season's oil always goes through a solid sixty day resting period where sediment settles naturally to the bottom of the storage tanks before it can be bottled and offered for sale.

Anyways, the actual oil...I'd long liked the above-mentioned blend that Olave has been sending up here for us (and other shops) for many years now. But getting to taste each of the component varietals on its own I sort of found myself drawn to one in particular — the oil from the Frantoio olive. It's just so darned good! Since it never hurts to try, I asked about having the Frantoio oil bottled just for us. You just never know…. turned out to be a case of "ask and ye shall receive! Turns out that the Frantoio is also Elvio's favorite of the dozen different varietals he's growing. He calls it the "King of Olives." I'm less poetic so I just call it really good. And I'm excited that we've got the oil up here.

The Olave Frantoio
This oil has a great big aroma that's about as olivey as you're gonna get. The flavor is large and luscious — really green, with the hints of raw artichoke and green tomato that are so characteristic of this classic Tuscan olive varietal. It's got a really long finish that brings together a nice touch of bitterness and a simultaneous swatch of sweetness and lively, loveable but not overwhelming bit of pepperiness, all accomplished while staying nearly perfectly balanced from every angle. I can't tell you this oil is going to change your life or anything of that magnitude but it's really darned good on almost everything — fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, all sorts of salads (especially those with bigger flavored greens like arugula, red romaine or endive). It's delicious drizzled over full flavored fresh fish (one of the great parts of Chilean eating), or grilled vegetables of every sort. This full-bodied, full flavored, well-balanced, and extremely accessible oil is a great way to go for olive oil novices and aficionados

Casados
Once we got going on the whole idea of a special Olave-Zingerman's bottling we ended up doing a very limited edition of a second oil (just to add a little fun to this year's holiday oil buying). Out of the 31 possible ways one could blend the four Olave varietals (that's not accounting for various percentage blends) we came up with what we think is really nice, and definitely unique, blend.

We came to consensus on the name Casados, which means "married" in Spanish because the blend is a pairing of two varietals from opposite ends of the flavor spectrum. Arbequina is typically softer, smooth, and very suave with hints of green apple; Coratina is a powerhouse — big, brazen, very peppery. Together though we ended up with an oil that's got a flavor all its own — big, but buttery, with deep bass notes, it's smoother than standard Coratina, but far punchier than your average Arbequina. Excellent for big flavors like beef, pork, braised greens, really good beans, fresh tuna or swordfish. Very limited quantities and a really nice special label done up by our really special marketing and graphics crew.