When it comes to olive oil, quality is key, and this is why gourmands and experts in the food industry believe it’s an ingredient worth investing in. Oliviers&Co. and its partner producers seriously factor in the following aspects in ensuring the superiority of their olive oils: the olive variety, the manner and speed of harvest and production, and storage. Committed to offering only the world’s best olive oil, O&Co. implements the strictest guidelines and selection criteria from harvesting to bottling.
A taste of excellence
Where the ingredients come from is an important factor that determines the taste and characteristics of an O&Co. olive oil. This is why O&Co. travels throughout the Mediterranean to select hundreds of expert mills using demanding specifications. The oils are all rated on a scale of 200 points, with only thirty oils per year retained by their expert “oléicologue.”
Timing is also important: olives must be hand-harvested when still green and its oils taste best when they are freshly pressed. O&Co. producers handpick the olives which are then cold pressed within 24 hours of harvest. Five to 12 kilos of olives are used to obtain an exceptional liter of oil: this low yield is the guarantee of quality. For the O&Co. Specialty Oils, the olives are crushed directly with citrus fruits, herbs, and fresh spices with no added flavoring.
O&Co., led by its Quality and Product Development Director Eric Verdier, inspects over 1,200 batches per year, both in sensory and taste compliance, along with rigorous physio-chemical analysis. All the oils are then bottled in their workshop in Mane, Haute-Provence, with each label specifying the country of origin, the domain and producer’s name, the harvest date, the varieties of olives, and the number of liters available. Light and heat can be detrimental to fresh oils so O&Co.’s bottles and containers are opaque in order to preserve the oils’ taste and quality.
The O&CO. 2017 Grand Crus
O&Co. introduces its 2017 Grand Crus collection which is available in stores starting this August. The collection of limited edition bottles, harvested from October to November 2016, showcases the finest olive oils from Italy, Spain, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, and France, each boasting remarkable quality and taste.
The Gold Harvest Collection, which is O&Co.’s cream of the crop, are all from exceptional groves located exclusively on the lands of Tuscany. Its Fattorie DiGaliga E Vetrice bottle, whose taste profile includes bitter almond, cut grass, and artichoke, is best paired with raw and cooked vegetables, bread dippings, red meats, pasta, ravioli, drizzled over mozzarella, ricotta, or goat cheese.
The French oils, sought out by O&CO. in Provence and Corsica, are extraordinarily rare and makes up less than 1 percent of world production. They are exquisite, surprising, and reveal exceptional flavors—a tribute to French producers who work with the greatest care to create these true gems. This is the first collection to release French oils in black bottles, which signifies its premium quality. One of the three bottles in this series, the Moulin La Cravenco has notes of dried herb, baked apple, and butter, and is best paired with delicate fish, chicken breast, asparagus, fresh peas, soft and hard cheese, pork, and baked goods.
The other Grand Crus include the floral Frantoio Galantino from Italy, whose taste profile includes notes of almond, cashew nuts, and dried herb, and complements potato salad, chicken with parsley and parmesan cheese, and ricotta with chives; the delicate and floral Finca La Gramanosa from Spain, which is best paired with grilled fish, chicken, pork, penne and spaghetti, vegetables, bread with tomato, and strawberry salad; Lakudia from Greece, which can be used on Greek salad, lamb skewers with lemon, and stuffed eggplant; and the grassy A Capela Dos Olivias from Portugal, with notes of green apple, dried herbs, and artichokes, which would make vegetables, chicken, marinade, pasta, rice, and mixed green salads taste heavenly.
O&Co. boutiques are located at Central Square, Bonifacio High Street and Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center Makati.