FAQ & Fun Facts

  1. Three of the biggest enemies of olive oil are light, heat and air. Therefore, keep your oil in a dark, cool place with the cap on at all times. (DO NOT REFRIGERATE) Our bottles are dark to protect your oil.
  2. Store your bottle of balsamic vinegar in a cupboard or on the countertop. (DO NOT REFRIGERATE)
  3. The fourth enemy of olive oil is age. Unlike great wines, olive oil does not get better with time. Our oils are extremely fresh and we recommend that you use them in a twelve to fourteen month period. Fresher is always better.
  4. Balsamic vinegars have a shelf life of three to four years.
  5. We get asked quite often on how to make a vinaigrette. This is subject to personal preference but we have two recommendations you can follow, the first is to use 50 /50 of each oil and vinegar and the second is to use two parts olive oil to two parts balsamic. This is a personal preference. If you need them to combine you must add a binder of either a good honey for a sweeter flavor or a spicy mustard for a savory flavor.
  6. We no longer refill bottles so you may recycle them at home.
  7. EVOO means Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
  8. All of our olive oils are Extra Virgin Olive Oil, First Cold Pressed. They are produced in Italy just south of Rome.
  9. Cold pressed oils are not processed in any other way nor do they have anything added to them. No preservatives and no additives. They are highly valued for their flavor and nutritional value. 
  10. Our flavored olive oils are made with the natural liquid form of the herb or fruit that is featured. Such as Meyer Lemon, Garlic, Rosemary or Blood Orange. We NEVER use artificial flavors.
  11. Olives start out as small, bright green fruits and as they mature they plump out and begin to change color to a yellow-green, pinkish to purple and finally black.
  12. The color of olive oil is dependent on the pigment in the fruit. The color of the olive oil does not have anything to do with the quality of the oil.
  13. The olive tree is an evergreen, characterized by its gnarled trunk and unruly branches.
  14. The thin spiky leaves are dark green on top and the back of the leaf is more of a silvery color. The leaves live for three years before being replaced by new ones.
  15. Olive trees can live for hundreds of years.
  16. The olive tree bears fruit after five years but does not mature until it is twenty years of age.
  17. Groups of white blossoms appear on the olive tree in early spring, about one in twenty actually produce an olive.
  18. Olive trees thrive in the Mediterranean and countries with similar climate – mild winters, a brief wet summer and fall, with hot and dry summers. Although, olive trees can survive long droughts, they do not tolerate extreme cold or wet conditions. They are able to thrive in poor, rocky soil and the mountainous regions of Greece and Italy are ideal growing areas. Olive trees require little attention.
  19. Olive trees were first cultivated in the Middle East and Crete as far back as the year 3000 B.C.
  20. Olives and their oil have played an important part in world history, with references made of them in tombs of ancient Pharaoh’s and the Bible.
  21. The olive branch has been a symbol of glory, honor and peace since the times of ancient Greeks. An olive branch was awarded to the first Olympic athletes, along with olive oil and was considered a highly regarded prize.
  22. In 1500 B.C. olive trees were cultivated in Greece, they then spread to Italy and into France.
  23. The “golden age” of growing olive trees came with the rise of The Roman Empire. The Roman’s planted olive trees in Spain and then across the entire Mediterranean basin. The Spanish took the olive trees to Mexico in the late 16th century. Soon trees were planted in Peru, Chili and Argentina. In the 18th century, the olive tree was brought to the United States, to California.
  24. Thomas Jefferson planted olive trees on his estate in the 1770’s but the tree did not survive the climate.
  25. Balsamic vinegars are made from Trebbiano grapes and have a high natural sugar content which is why our balsamic is sweet.
  26. Balsamic vinegar is made in Italy in two regions, Modena and Reggio. Our balsamic vinegars are made in Modena.
  27. Our balsamic vinegars are all natural and have NO added sugar.
  28. Balsamics are considered a condiment in Italy.
  29. Until 25 years ago, balsamic vinegars were relatively unknown to outside of Italy not to mention outside of Modena or Reggio. Modena and Reggio had been making the incredibly rare condiment for nearly a thousand years, but never for commercial use. Families would produce their balsamic vinegars over the years, passing it on as an heirloom, giving it away in small amounts to cherished friends or used as a dowry when a daughter gets married.
  30. Traditional balsamic vinegars are aged in wood barrels over many years. These are wonderful but very expensive. Our balsamic vinegars are commercial balsamic vinegars. These combine old and new methods, they follow the traditional fermentation and aging with newer means of producing and have the vinegars ready at a younger age but still maintain the strong, sweet flavors with NO ADDITIVES, NO SUGAR, and NO PRESERVATIVES .
  31. According to Ministerial Decrees of Italy, it is Illegal to print the age of the vinegar on the labels. However, many labels do make such claims and this information can be misleading. A vinegar labeled 18 years can mean that any amount, even an eye dropper full of the older vinegar was added to the end product. We do not label our balsamic vinegar by ages because we follow the Italian regulations.
  32. Ultimately it is the taste, not the age that determines the quality of a vinegar.