Olive Oil Lesson #6

I have three points for you to learn today. The first two cover olive oil, and the third covers balsamic vinegar.

1. Most olives are either table olives or olive oil olives, not both

Castelvetrano Olives are unique in that they are used as both: Castelvetrano on the table, Nocellara del Belice in the bottle. Castelvetrano is also a city in Sicily - all the olive oil you find there is Castelvetrano, as expected.

This variety has grown more popular in California for its balanced flavor profile and general consumer popularity.

I personally enjoy this varietal, but not all Castelvetrano's are equal, just like not all Cabernets or Chardonnays are equal.

2. Color and Flavor of Olive Oil is Relatively Uncorrelated

The color of Olive oil in my opinion has very little correlation with flavor. I've tasted some terrible green oils and great yellow-brown oils. Many times the chlorophyll present in "Novello" or Fresh Oil will cause the green color to persist, but I still wouldn't jump to conclusions on flavor and quality.

3. A Lesson on Balsamic Vinegar

2 Separate DOP regions exist in Balsamic Vinegar: Emilia-Reggio and Modena.

In Modena, there are 2 Types of DOP Balsamic Classifications: 12 Year DOP and 25 Year Extra Vecchio. In Emilio-Reggio, there is also a third 20 year Balsamic Classification.

Balsamics get richer and tastier with age thus the price of the 25 year > price of 20 year > price of 12 year. Whereas DOP Olive Oil are bottled by producers or separately, DOP Balsamic is only bottled by the consortium (regulating authority), in identical bottles (Modena and Emilia-Reggio have different shapes). Any other bottle shape without the DOP seal of approval is not an official DOP Balsamic. This is meant to be a defense to fraud.

Below the 12 year in quality is IGP certified - less strict, less expensive, looser regulations. These are more par for the course for Aged Balsamics, and below these often lie the commercial young Balsamics, which are lighter and super acidic (these are the Balsamics I've hated all my life). Most balsamic you probably encounter is commercial grade cheap balsamic.

As always please comment any questions about this article or about olive oil in general.

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I’ll drop another lesson next week.

-Jack (@extravirginguy)