Olives Under the Tuscan Sun
Posted by Alayne Gardner-Carimi on
The region of Tuscany, Italy is renowned for its high-quality olive oil production. The region's favorable climate, with its mild winters and hot summers, along with the fertile soil, makes it an ideal environment for cultivating olive trees. Tuscan extra virgin olive oil is known for its pungency, rich fruity flavor, low acidity, and beautiful color. It is with this in mind that vomFASS-Madison brings you our San Gimignano Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Tuscany. It's the perfect accompaniment for bread dips, summer vegetables, salads, and light pastas. Come in for a taste!
Top Tongues
Olive oil sommeliers can discern where olive oils come from and what variety of olives make up the oil, as well as positive and negative flavors. Positive flavor characteristics of olives depend on the variety, soil, weather, and stage of ripeness when picked. The olives for this Gimignano Extra Virgin Olive Oil are hand-picked at the same time, put into small, ventilated containers and pressed within 8 to 24 hours of picking. Making olive oil in Tuscany is an intensive labor of love.
Better Together
Together the Moraiolo, Pedolino, Frantoio and Leccino varieties of olives each add their unique qualities to create a well-balanced, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. The Moraiolo brings a fruity pungency with a peppery finish and herbal aroma, while the Pendolino has a mild flavor with fruity notes and a touch of sweetness. Frantoio olives are very rich in antioxidants, have a robust fruity flavor with a touch of bitterness, and a spicy finish. And the Leccino olives bring light fruitiness, mild bitterness, and a pleasant almond-like aftertaste.
San Gimi-what?
San Gimignano (san gee-mi-nyan-o) is a beautiful, walled city in Tuscany, spectacularly dotted with picturesque stone towers. At one point there were 72 towers, because many of the medieval patrician families sought to out-do one another by building the tallest tower-houses. Some were as high as 150 feet! Today, although only 14 towers remain, the town has retained its feudal appearance. Near this ancient relay point between Florence and Rome, the olives for our Tuscan extra virgin olive oil are grown, harvested, and pressed much as they have been for centuries.
Committed to Quality
Tuscan olive oil producers are committed to creating the highest quality olive oils using traditional methods with the highest standards. Only those olive oils with a Tuscan Protected Geographical Indication (Toscano IGP) or Designation of Origin (PDO) from Tuscany are guaranteed to be fully produced in the Tuscan area. While the production of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil is steeped in tradition, the producers are highly aware the healthiest olives make the best oil and a healthy planet produces the best olives. Tuscany promotes sustainable farming models with low environmental impact.
Since the inception of vomFASS, founder Johannes Kiderlin has sought out quality family producers and developed ongoing relationships with them. These forward-thinking alliances have created a space for our partners to focus on safeguarding the land and implementing the latest generation technology to reduce water usage during processing and as well as using biomass to produce energy. These relationships allow our customers access to access fresh pressings of premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil each year.
The Taste of San Gimignano
Our vomFASS San Gimignano Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a beautiful golden color with olive reflections and the scent of fresh grasses and green tomato. Typical of Tuscan olive oils, it tastes mildly fruity with hints of green banana and herbs, a trace of almond and subtle bitterness, and with a nice, peppery finish. It is highly prized for its versatility and is often used as a finishing oil for salads, drizzled over bruschetta or grilled vegetables, and in traditional Italian dishes. Check out the recipes below.
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