Best olive oil

Buying the best olive oil is now easier than ever. However, before discussing the best olive oil, we need to consider all the factors that make a product the best.

Delving into the world of olive oil means exploring the infinite characteristics of this olive juice that has conquered our taste buds for hundreds of years. This journey to find the best olive oil has led us to deep research into our roots, its history, the characteristics of the land, seeds, and variations in crops, an analysis of its chemical properties, and, not least, the pleasure in the mouth of this product.

From the field to the table

All these variables are important because good oil is the sum of all these and more. Therefore, let’s break down all these points one by one.

• Olive variety: In the market, you can find various varieties of olive oil made from different types of olives such as picual, arbequina, hojiblanca, cornicabra, royal, verdial… Each one has its own characteristics that differentiate it from the others and provide a different flavor, so they must be evaluated separately. Also, you can find a blend of oil obtained from various varieties known as a coupage. Without going into the general characteristics of these oils, if you are looking for an oil with presence, picual can be said to have greater depth in its nuances.
• Climatology: The olive tree is a resistant crop capable of withstanding both freezing temperatures and high degrees. It also requires little water to produce its fruit. Therefore, olive groves can be found in rugged areas of Iran, Turkey, and Syria. The continental climate, with hot summers and mild winters, is a climate in which the olive tree thrives.
• Soil characteristics: The soil from which the best olive oil will be obtained must be sandy-loam, deep, and well-draining. The olive tree needs a lot of depth as it has large roots. Additionally, it does not tolerate prolonged waterlogging, so its soil must drain easily.
• Crop maintenance: Like any crop, the olive tree requires specific care to obtain quality olives. Factors such as climate, soil, and olive variety are important, but human labor must not be neglected.

The olive tree needs attention and care throughout the year. Specific work begins in January to achieve the best fruit and the best qualities for the olives. For this, a schedule of tasks is created, ranging from pruning to fertilization, care against pests, and corresponding irrigation in the summer months.

Greater care and attention increase the chances of obtaining olives with higher yield and flavor.

• Integrated production: Taste and quality are two factors that go hand in hand. Therefore, the best olive oil must be governed by integrated production. This means ensuring sustainable agriculture in the long term, introducing biological and chemical control methods, as well as other techniques that reconcile the demands of society, environmental protection, agricultural productivity, and operations carried out for the handling, packaging, processing, and labeling of plant products covered by the system.
• Harvest: Harvesting is the moment that has the most presence in the collective imagination. This phase is the result of human work on the farm, the qualities of the soil, and climatic conditions.

The timing of the harvest is crucial, lasting several months from October to February. This will determine the final taste of the product. For us, the best olive oil should have an early harvest, in October.

During the October harvest, olives are picked directly from the tree at their optimal moment. To determine the quality of the fruit, an analysis is carried out.

• Early oil has organoleptic characteristics that make it superior to oils obtained in later months. Young olives are characterized by having a pronounced smell, taste, and nuanced profile with distinctive connotations. In fact, early oil has a greenish hue (its most striking characteristic), but it also has a much fruitier taste with a more prominent herbaceous touch, making it more appealing on the palate.
• Another feature that makes early extra virgin olive oil more intense is its high content of polyphenols. Polyphenols have numerous health benefits and are a component that imparts a more intense flavor while extending its shelf life and quality. These phenols actually delay the oxidation of fatty acids, thus preserving the properties of the oil for a longer time.
• Mill and pressing: To have the best olive oil, it must be pressed quickly. Like any fruit, it loses its intensity after harvesting, so it must be quickly taken to a mill with the latest cold pressing technology to obtain the purest oil with all its flavor.
• A good storage system: This is undoubtedly one of the most critical points. Olive oil requires a good storage system to maintain its flavor and natural color. Therefore, it must be stored in stainless steel tanks and packaged on demand to always offer the highest quality to the consumer.
• Specific packaging: Olive oil loses qualities and aromas when exposed to sunlight, so it is crucial that the packaging of extra virgin olive oil is opaque. There are different alternatives, such as buying extra virgin olive oil in an opaque bottle or protecting it with a cardboard box to shield it from external factors.

Taste of the Best Olive Oil

Delving into taste is a more complex matter, as aromatic notes, mouthfeel, and retronasal sensation are aspects considered in this scale. It’s important to be aware that this scale is conducted by expert tasters who adhere to a meticulously crafted tasting panel that seeks both the most favorable and unfavorable aspects of the extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to establish a rating.

Among the pleasant sensations that are valued are:

• Apple: the flavor of olive oil that resembles the taste of apples
• Sweet: a pleasant taste where neither the spicy, bitter, nor astringent flavors predominate
• Grass: a flavor reminiscent of freshly cut grass
• Green Leaves: the flavor of very green olives
• Bitter: can be more or less pleasant depending on the intensity
• Harsh: produces an astringent sensation
• Spicy: a taste that comes from phenolic substances, mainly from green olives
• Almond: there are two variants here, it can be like freshly harvested almonds from the tree or like dried almonds
• Dull or flat: olive oils with mild organoleptic qualities
• Hay: a flavor reminiscent of dried grass.

Regarding the scale that tasters take into account, it follows these criteria:

0: Total absence of perception

1: Almost imperceptible

2: Light

3: Medium

4: Large

5: Extreme

Along with this, a scale ranging from 0 to 9 is established (where 0 is poor and 9 is exceptional quality) and is assessed by a committee of experts.

Heraldo Olive Oils are evaluated every year through this panel, consistently achieving exceptional standards due to their organoleptic quality. It has been recognized with a marked green fruity score of “7.9” with distinctive sensory properties in color, aroma, and taste.

Among its most notable notes are green fruity, green grass, and green tomato. These flavors make it an excellent extra virgin olive oil to savor slowly, knowing that you have an unparalleled oil in your hands with an elegant body, a fresh taste, and characteristics that transport you to the Mediterranean mountains.

Recommendations for the Use of Heraldo Special Edition Olive Oils

At first glance, when you see its emerald green color, you already know that you are dealing with an early-harvest oil, collected at its optimal moment and of high quality. However, it’s in the taste where we can say that it exceeds all expectations. Its green fruity flavor, with a great balance of nuances and aromatic hints with a touch of green tomato, will not leave you indifferent.

These characteristics are thanks to the century-old olive trees, dating back to the 19th century, the care of the olive grove, and biological control, where there is exhaustive respect for the environment as an indispensable value of our brand.

Such an excellent oil is meant to be enjoyed and savored raw, like in salads, baked and grilled fish, grilled vegetables, or simply with some tomatoes and a drizzle of our oil.

Purchase your Heraldo Special Edition olive oil directly and without intermediaries.