Buongiorno,
It's been a big week in the world of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
CBS 60 Minutes ran an expose on Mafia-involved fraud in Italian Olive Oil.
Up to 80% of the mass market olive oil in the US is reported to be not Extra Virgin, and possibly, not olive oil.
At
Olio2go.com, how do we know our olive oil is truly the best?
- Our producers run out of olive oil. We often can't buy any oil by spring. (So, they are not mixing their fabulous oil to make it last longer).
- The olive oil competitions work just as the tests shown on 60 Minutes: Blue glasses, professional tasters, lab reports.
- We visit Italy often. This year we were in Sicily and watched the olive presses at Villa Zottopera, Frantoi Cutrera, Olio Verde (Gianfranco Becchina Estate) and Planeta.
- We obtain lab reports for the oils we direct import and we review items such as free fatty acid levels, peroxides, UV K232, polyphenols, and the sensory analysis.
- We attend events in Italy (Vinitaly, TuttoFood, EXPO, Olio Capitale) and in the US (NYIOOC). We also recommend the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition.
- We support organizations such as Slow Food, where small producers are making great efforts to keep agricultural traditions alive. Slow Food olive oils are listed on our site.
- We have very close relationships with other importers.
- Our very high quality producers work with each other and trust each other to sell the best. An example is the special gift set Opera Olei.
- You can also reference Tom Mueller's web site, Guide to Great Olive Oils (Italy), where most of our olive oils are also referenced.
Enjoy the best, crafted by those who care about tradition.
|
 |
|
Fresh Arrivals from Umbria, Puglia, and Sicily
|
|
|
| New Harvest Selections from Umbria, Puglia, and Sicily |
|
Fresh from Umbria, Puglia, and Sicily -- six new selections from favorite producers.
Mascio Novello -- from Principe di Mascio, a favorite extra virgin from Umbria, now in a 750 ml bottle
Fratelli Colletti, high quality, organic, small family production, from Caltabellotta near Agrigento in Sicily
All selections were pressed and bottled between mid-October and mid-November.
|
|
|
Agromafia is a term many learned in the 60 Minutes story on January 3, 2016, kicking off the new year with an olive oil expose.
60 Minutes, together with Tom Mueller (author of
Extravirginity), and the Italian government's "Food FBI" revealed the involvement of the Mafia in food production and distribution. And, it's not just olive oil. Similar issues exist with counterfeit Italian wine and cheese.
Grocery store olive oils, with name brands you know, have a very high rate of, well, not being extra virgin olive oil. They call it phoney olive oil.
The links to the 60 Minutes Agromafia story are available
on our blog.
We invite you to forward this to your friends.
|
| Announcing Trofiette and Foglie d'Olivo pasta from Liguria. The Trofiette is ever so slightly smaller than the Trofie we formerly carried. It is perfect for Pesto and our favorite choice is Trentasette Red Pesto with Truffles.
Foglie d'Olivo
is an olive leaf shaped pasta made with spinach. This beauty is often simply dressed with olive oil and cheese as a side dish.
Previous shapes were $10.50. These are now available for $6.75 and $7.25 for a 500 gram (1.1 lb.) bag. |
|
Save the Date: Saturday, January 16th
|
Paolo di Gaetano of
Fonte di Foiano will be with us to share his family's olive oil.
Paolo will tell us about the production of
Toscano IGP, the famous olive oil,
1979, and the magical
Grand Cru. He will also introduce Riflessi and Bio, both shown at right in the photo.
Chat with Paolo, learn more about olive oil, practice your Italian, and enjoy a bite to eat!
Saturday, January 16, Noon to 3:00 PM at Olio2go on Hilltop in Fairfax.
|
As we move through the harvest year, great deals appear on our
Sale Page. You'll find great values on our "Last Bottle" sales.
We've updated the tasting profiles, so be sure to read the listings.
|
|
|
|
