Extra Virgin Olive Oil is similar to wine in many ways and very different in others! There are thousands of cultivars, you can make an oil with a single (monocultivar) or a blend of several, the olives are affected by the weather, how much water and sun they receive in any year, the quality of the soil, the altitude and most importantly how they are handled once picked and crushed. Unlike wine Extra Virgin olive oil does not improve with age. In this regard it is more like juicing fresh fruits and vegetables. It is at it's best immediately and then starts to decline over time. It is recommended that you use extra virgin olive oils with 18-24 months of harvest date.

There are several things you can look for when selecting an exceptional bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

1. Start by looking at the bottle. It should be dark glass or tin to keep light out. Keep opened bottles sealed tightly and stored in a cool, dark spot in your pantry not by the hot stove or a bright window. I would also suggest you not pour it out of it's bottle into an open olive oil pouring can.  Air and Light are olive oil's enemies.

2.Look for a Harvest date, not a best before date. A less reputable producer or distributor can pick any date as a best before date. A harvest date tells you the year and often the month the olives were harvested. A bottle is typically good if stored properly for 18-24 months from the harvest date. In the northern hemisphere olives are normally harvested from Sept - Nov and from May to July in the southern hemisphere. If you know that the harvest date is October 2013 you have until April 2015 to a max of Oct 2015 for this oil to be at its best. You can use it after this if it has been sealed or stored properly. It is not that it necessarily goes bad right away but, it loses its "mojo" it's "lifeforce" the older it gets. The levels of phenols which are powerful anti-oxidants decline, it starts to loose it's flavors and ultimately every oil will go rancid after enough time. So, buy it when it is fresh from a reputable seller and buy in quantities you will use in this window of time. I cook everyday and I can use a 500ml of oil in 2-3 weeks but, you may not cook as much, or use it as quickly. The point is don't save it and only use it for special occasions, use it lavishly and enjoy it!

3.Look for the name and location of the farm that produced the oil - at the very least there should be a region where the oil is produced like Tuscany, Puglia or Sicily (olives should all be from one region for the very best blends)

4: DOP or PDO, IGP or COOC (for California) designation on a bottle is a registered guarantee of place of origin. It does not guarantee quality however, the designation does imply that it is in fact a true extra virgin olive oil and not a fake. It also implies that the oil has undergone certain levels of testing to comply. Why don't all producers of real extra virgin olive oil get this designation? Not all great producers of excellent extra virgin olive oil get this designation because some have done very well on their own reputations and feel they don't need the hassle to have the Ministry involved in their business, and they don't want the cost and inspections involved in this designation. This designation is a point to consider but, don't let the DOP be your only guide when choosing an oil.

Think of oil as if you are buying a good bottle of wine. Many of us would not think it unreasonable to consider spending $30 - $40 on a great bottle of wine and it's consumed within the period of a single meal. A great bottle of extra virgin olive oil costs the same and can be enjoyed for many meals. It provides delicious taste and has added health benefits like wine. A super bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil is going to cost approximately $30 - $40 CDN. 

Invest in great Extra Virgin Olive Oil the taste difference is absolutely noticeable and don't save it...use it lavishly!!

Many factors affect differences in how Extra Virgin Olive Oils Taste.

• Like grapes, olives have thousands of different cultivars. Different olives taste differently.

• Like wine, a master producer can create a beautiful blend of different olives to create their signature oils.

• You can use a single cultivar (one variety of olive) to create a monocultivar olive oil.

• Like grapes the soil, also called the terroir can affect the taste of the olive. Is it chalky? or sandy, is it at a high elevation, is it near the sea?

•The amounts and timing of watering can affect the taste of the oil and how much oil is created in the fruit.

• Was the tree infested/ affected by the Olive fly or some other pest/condition?

• Were the olives frozen (frost) while on the tree?

Harvesting and storage methods have a huge effect on the quality of the oil produced:

• When the olives  are picked  and what proportion are unripe vs ripe in the overall      batch?
• Are the olives that are picked in good, unblemished condition or are some rotten ones picked from the ground which have already started to ferment?
• Once picked are they put into clean plastic bins with ample air circulating around the fruit as they go to the mill?
• Are the olives washed and crushed within hours in a meticulously clean mill or are they left in burlap sacks left for days fermenting until they get transported to a mill far away to be crushed?
• Is the mill modern, mechanical and pristinely cleaned? or is it an old fashioned stone mill with matts that can never be perfectly cleaned between uses?

WHAT KIND OF OIL WOULD YOU LIKE?

MILD  

These oils are mild and lighter tasting with low levels of pungency and/or bitterness.
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MEDIUM​

 These oils are fruity, full bodied and often complex with medium levels of pungency and/or bitterness.
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ROBUST 

These oils are intense, bold, robust oils with lots of bitterness and pungency. These are the ones with long peppery finishes, the ones that make you cough! (coughing is a good thing! it means it is full of anti-oxidant polyphenols...look for the cough!)