New Harvest Olive Oil

Well it’s not in Italy but the oil is Italian-Amazon. And even they are showing low inventory for some smaller producers. I’d hop on it and not risk getting caught up in the global shipping nightmare by trying to import it yourself.

Alan, I actually do order it from Italy every year. 😊😊 I’m looking for something to taste and finish dishes with so it should be special- Amazon wouldn’t carry these. Once you’ve tried the new harvest oils you’re hooked, even if it takes extra effort to get them.

I've ordered the last two years from Madonnabella.com and have been very happy with it. Roberto Becchi, who is a RS guide is part owner of it. Their wine is very good also. They take care of all the shipping too.

Thank you for that feedback Leslie! I remember last year watching Roberto working the olive oil harvest. Great to know that you liked it. I just emailed them to see if the new oil is available yet. 😊😊

I always order Greek EVOO (preferably from Crete), but I order pasta etc. from the following places, which I think also offer Italian OO:

https://www.bellaitaliafoodstore.com

https://marcelliformaggi.com

https://supermarketitaly.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-YT1BRAFEiwAd2WRttbBmuL0vKzgP9gHttopDrpkuWUlFTF-IWq9vGKkU8R9MHkyYpPE5xoCnesQAvD_BwE

Green oil story: Earlier this month, we stayed for a week at a house in Tuscany, renting one of the two apartments upstairs, above the owner’s residence. We’d gotten to know them a little since last year, as they’d been doing Zoom cooking classes throughout the pandemic, and we were the first people in the cooking group who’d come to stay at their place. They had a couple dozen olive trees. They also had an extensive garden, with lots of outstanding tomatoes still on the vines for another couple of weeks. Oh yeah, THAT’S what a tomato is supposed to taste like, not what’s available at our U.S. grocery store 12 months out of the year.

Well, the Saturday we stayed was their olive harvest day. We joined in for the experience, hand picking olives while a man who’d contracted with them operated a harvesting machine, kind of like an electric weed whacker that knocked olives off of the highest branches. We were given the option of using hand-held comb-like devices, but picking with fingers actually was more effective. Most of the olives were black, but many still had some green on the skin, and some were totally green. They said to pick everything. Olives fell onto nylon tarps under the trees, and we gathered them for dumping into plastic tubs.

Just before noon, the tubs from the first trees were loaded into 2 cars, and driven to the mill in the nearest town. After a fantastic lunch, we all resumed picking. They said that the trees at the back of their place produced no olives last year, and while they still didn’t yield as much this year as the morning’s trees, there were still enough to completely fill their Subaru Outback with full crates, for a second run to the mill.

The next day, they got back almost 100 liters of oil from all their olives. I was really surprised how deep green it was. I thought it tasted “green,” too - but maybe “peppery” could describe an element of its flavor. They said the strong initial flavor got milder after a couple of months.

As thanks, we were offered 2 liters of oil to take with us. That was completely unexpected, and while that was generous, I knew we couldn’t get that much oil with our other liquids in our carry-on Ziploc bags at airport security. And even if checking bags, I wasn’t going to gamble on having home-jarred olive oil in my suitcase, way too risky. We did accept a small (pint-size?) jar to take around Italy on our remaining 3 weeks of the trip. That jar, inside an empty Greek yogurt container with a tight-sealing lid, survived the bag toting, rental car rides, taxi transfers, trains, and lugging up and down lots of stairs. We polished it off with a scarpetto with bread, the next-to-last day of the trip (6 days ago). The taste did get more and more wonderful - it does grow on you.

I’m not ready to go out and spend an entire day harvesting olives on a vacation again, right away. But some more freshly picked, freshly pressed olive oil? That was special.

Totally agree with Leslie…we’ve ordered from Madonna Bella three times, always wonderful and with very fast shipping times. I think last year was about two weeks from tree to our kitchen. You can mix and match with their wines as well, so it’s nice to be able make up your own case or half-case.

I've found that I can often buy excellent quality Olive Oil, Balsamic and other products from local stores, so I don't bother ordering from abroad. There's one store here that specializes in products like that.

If you are okay with Spanish olive oil, I suggest looking at Apadrina un olivo

These people have started to "rescue" old olive groves. For 50€ you can "adopt" an olive tree for a year.
The adoption includes 2 litters of EVOO. Also it gives you a reason to visit Spain, to see your tree.

Cyn, thank you so much for sharing that story! What a fun experience. Yes, so you completely understand what I’m looking for. That fresh, green oil isn’t something that can sit on a shelf for a year. Well, It can and does, which is why it tastes so different when you buy it at a store in the US or on Amazon. I want the fresh stuff! 😊😊

I am definitely placing an order for Madonna Bella!

Cyn, what a fun story! Thank you for sharing.

Here’s another domestic possibility for olive oil that’s being harvested and milled right now. We belong to this winery/ olive oil company and love their fresh, unfiltered oil each year. They typically sell out during November. The rest of their oils sit for ~2 months and are bottled in January. They have 4 varieties of olives. Each bottle is hand dated.

https://shop.sekahills.com/Products/Olive-Oil

Try casaemma.com. great olive oil and wine.