Temperatures drop, days get shorter and leaves fall. However, this is the most important time of the year for us: olive harvesting and pressing season is starting. Between November and January, Apulian olive cultivars end their life cycles: the olive trees bear their precious fruits, and farmers are ready to start harvesting.
Understanding when the right time has come to remove the fruit from the olive tree is crucial. The degree of ripeness of the olives is visible to the naked eye and is distinguishable by the coloration and texture of the olive: the unripe olive has a very light color and is very hard to the touch, while the fully ripe olive is almost completely black and very soft to the touch. This last phase is characterized by an increase of acidity in the olive and, although it is not ideal for the quality of the final product, it is preferred by those who prefer to aim to the quantity of the harvest. In the veraison phase, character
ized by an acidity between 1.5% and 3%, the olive shows a color ranging from green to light purple. It is at this stage that the olive has the best taste and organoleptic properties, the Angelino Extra Virgin Olive Oil is produced with olives harvested during this phase.
The harvesting method is one of the factors that gives additional value to our oil: with combing, olives are detached directly from the trees through machines that comb the olive tree (tools that facilitate and speed up the process of handpicking carried out in the past, without ever losing the integrity of the fruit). The olives thus fall into the nets, which are placed at the bottom of the trees. Subsequently, the collected olives are promptly taken to the mill (within 24 hours), in order to avoid the increase in temperature and oxidation of the fruits of this meticulous work.
Once in the olive mill facility, the olives undergo the last phase of processing: milling. Having reached this final stage, the olives are pressed through exclusively mechanical processes at controlled temperatures. Keeping the processing below 27°C our Extra Virgin Olive Oil naturally maintains all the characteristics that make it so flavorful and beneficial to our health.
Each step of this lengthy process is carried out by us with dedication and care, conscious of the fact that it is with passion and respect for this wonderful fruit that we can transfer its essence into every Bottle and Orcio of Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Signed Angelino.
