Knowledge
Olive Oil Glossary
The most important terms around extra virgin olive oil — briefly explained.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- The highest grade: produced purely by mechanical means, with no chemical treatment, an acidity below 0.8% and free of sensory defects. In Italian, „Olio Extra Vergine".
- Cold-pressed
- Extraction without added heat (below ~27 °C). This largely preserves aroma, freshness and natural compounds such as polyphenols.
- Unfiltered
- The oil is not filtered; fine particles remain in it. It looks slightly cloudy and tastes especially fresh and full-bodied.
- Acidity
- The share of free fatty acids in percent — a freshness marker. The lower it is, the more carefully the oil was processed. For extra virgin olive oil it is by definition below 0.8%.
- Polyphenols
- Natural plant compounds of the olive, measured in mg/kg. Responsible for bitterness and pungency and a quality and freshness marker. More on our polyphenols page.
- Oleocanthal
- A natural polyphenol responsible for the typical peppery catch in the throat that fresh olive oil produces.
- Harvest year / Vintage
- The year of the harvest. Olive oil is not made for keeping — the fresher the vintage, the more intense the aroma and polyphenols.
- Cultivar (Dolce di Rossano)
- An olive variety. Dolce di Rossano is a rare, mild variety from Rossano in Calabria — the variety behind our Nobile.
- Coratina
- A robust southern Italian olive variety — rich in polyphenols, bitter, peppery. The variety behind our Intenso, pressed single-variety.
- COI method
- A standardised analytical procedure of the International Olive Council, used among other things to determine polyphenol content.
- Panel test
- A sensory assessment by a trained tasting panel — mandatory for the classification as “extra virgin”.