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Viola Nuovo - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 500 mL
Regular price $43.99 USDRegular price$45.00 USDSale price $43.99 USDSale
About Viola Nuovo
- Based in
- Sant'Eraclio di Foligno, Umbria, Italy
- Known for
- early-harvest Umbrian extra virgin olive oil
The Viola family has made olive oil in central Umbria for generations, with their mill at Sant'Eraclio di Foligno and groves in the olive belt around Spoleto. Grandfather Diamante started the business, his son Biagio had to run it alone at 16 after the war, and by 1997 Biagio's son Marco was running the whole company.
Marco's interest in chemistry and physics led the mill to move from millstones to a modern centrifuge. He farms organically and harvests only green olives.
Viola Nuovo questions
Why does the Viola family harvest only green olives?
Olives picked while still green, before they ripen, make an oil that tastes noticeably bitter and peppery. Those flavors come from natural plant compounds called polyphenols, and one of them, oleocanthal, causes the slight sting you feel at the back of the throat. By picking only green fruit at its Umbrian groves, the Viola family makes oils with that sharp, peppery character.
How should you use new harvest olive oil?
Use it raw. Heat breaks down the compounds that give new oil its pepper and bitterness, so cooking with it wastes what makes it special. Drizzle it over bruschetta, chickpea soup, tomato salad or bitter greens. Those flavors also fade during storage, so keep the bottle tightly closed in a cool, dark place and enjoy it while it is young.
