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De Carlo - Italian Olive Oil - Torre Di Mossa - 500 mL
Regular price $35.00 USDRegular price
About De Carlo
- Based in
- Bitritto (Bari), Puglia, Italy
- Known for
- estate-grown Puglian extra virgin olive oil
A notarial deed from 1598 records the De Carlo family buying land to grow olives. In 1668 the family bought a mill, one of the oldest in Italy and now protected by the cultural heritage authority. Saverio and Grazia De Carlo took over in 1980, and their children Francesco and Marina now run the company with them, in Bitritto, a small town about 10 kilometers from Bari.
The family farms about 130 hectares with roughly 28,000 olive trees. The olives are milled at the company's own mill within a few hours of picking.
The family grows local Puglian varieties, among them Ogliarola Barese, the olive of the Bari area also called Cima di Bitonto. Extra virgin olive oil like this is best used raw, over beans, grilled bread or fish.
De Carlo questions
What does D.O.P. mean on Italian olive oil?
D.O.P. is the Italian form of PDO, Protected Designation of Origin, a European Union label that requires every stage of production, from growing the olives to pressing the oil, to happen in one defined region. De Carlo grows and presses its olives within the Terra di Bari D.O.P., named for the land around Bari, and some of its oil carries that label.
What is a monovarietal olive oil?
A monovarietal oil is pressed from a single variety of olive instead of a blend, so it shows the taste of that one variety, much as a single-grape wine does. De Carlo makes several, each from one Puglian olive such as Coratina or Ogliarola Barese.
