Tenuta del Barone di Montemurlo — Tuscan extra virgin olive oil
The estate journal
How the oil is made, when we pick, why certain things show up in the glass. What we learn from standing among the trees.
In Tuscany we pick between October and November. But inside those six weeks lies the difference between two completely different oils — and the choice is made by the grower, not the calendar.
Many people taste it and think it has gone off. It is the opposite: that catch is the best part of the oil, and it even has a name.
On these hills the Frantoio — the most widespread cultivar in Tuscany — has been grown long enough to become something slightly different, with a name of its own.
You do not need a trained nose. Three things on the label and one test you can do in your kitchen in thirty seconds.
Yes, frying included. The belief that it "cannot take heat" is one of the most stubborn misunderstandings about olive oil, and the numbers say otherwise.
It is not only about price. It is that you know who to call if something is wrong, and you can ask when it was milled.
The question everyone who has inherited four trees asks. The honest answer starts with "it depends", but the numbers can be given.
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