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Tasting Notes
Our latest Olive Oil harvest from the Tuscan single estate of Villa Montalbano is bottled here in our Sfera 500ml bottle, to create a Ball of Tuscan Olive Oil. Villa Montalbano Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a first class, light, unfiltered Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but there is something special about it this year.
This single estate's olives were handpicked in late October and the crop this year was thankfully plentiful. Due to its recent pressing, this olive oil is full of fibre and flavour, luminescent green in colour, with an exciting amount of pepper. For the olive oil connoisseur, trust us, you will seriously enjoy this oil!
How is it best used?
Tasting and using freshly pressed Villa Montalbano Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a treat that all should experience in life. Despite be a light olive oil, Villa Montalbano has a concentrated flavour. The amaro or pepper in the oil will kick your salads into life. The fibre of the olives create a velvety text to the start, as they are still freely circulating in it from the milling process. The vivid green olive oil actually has an aroma of fresh olives or mown grass.
Please be aware that this natural fibre will settle after time and can then be used for adding a little extra flavour into your cooking. A simple drizzle of this oil on a strong green leafed salad, with possibly a little cracked salt over the top, and you will have released a little magic. Pair with our stronger flavoured fruit vinegars, to make many varieties of delicious salad dressing. Please be aware that stocks of this early oil are limited so it's first come first served!
How is this made?
Villa Montalbano is a privately owned Single Estate near Pistoia, roughly midway between Pisa and Florence, in the northern part of the Chianti region. Three ‘cultivars’ of olive are grown on the estate, Lecco, Frantoio and Murioli; the ratio of these varieties gives their oil its distinctive flavour and colour. The trees are hand pruned in the spring and the oil harvested in late October through to late December. The olives are hand picked with the help of local families, who are repaid generously with up to half of the picked crop. The oil is then taken to be milled that same day to prevent any degradation, at the local 'Frantoio' co-operative mill. The olives are pressed mechanically ensuring the Extra Virgin status of the oil is preserved. The required maximum acidity for Extra Virgin Oil is 0.8% but Villa Montalbano regularly produces an oil under 0.4%.
