You might like your old cars and vintage wines, but when it comes to extra virgin olive oil, the fresher or younger the better. The youngest oil is called - Olio Nuovo or new, fresh oil. The Italians came up with this term because the first 3 months of life for olive oil is a very special time. We’ll come back to this in a moment.
One of the reasons why extra virgin olive oil has such staying power is because it accomplishes 2 things very well – taste, flavor, and health. What’s interesting is that there is some kind of relationship between these two things.
First off – olive oil made from green, unripe olives will result in an oil that is stronger in flavor, slightly bitter, pungent.
From a health standpoint, it also contains more polyphenols and anti-oxidants as compared to olive oil made from a later harvest or riper olives. Also, oil made from ripe olives results in a smoother and has a much more buttery almost creamy kind of flavor.
Your preference depends on your palette and application – however from a health perspective, the stronger the flavor, the healthier the olive oil.
Know your Harvest Date
What do we always talk about at Nuvo? Know Your harvest date! We don’t carry on about this just because we want to make sure you are buying fresh oil olive. We want to make sure you’re buying the freshest olive oil.
And this is what the Italians were getting at when coming up with the term Olio Nuovo. Because just like the timing of the harvest (ripeness of olive) influences the taste/health axis so too does the timing of when you actually should consume the olive oil.
From the very first moment that first cold pressed olive oil is made, it starts to decay, and it has a limited shelf life!
But in those precious first three months, the flavors of the oil are like colors bursting outside the bounds of the painting. Over time, the flavors settle and become more discernible. But, if you’re looking for olive oil that packs the absolute biggest health punch, then Olio Nuovo is for you.
If you want fresh oil, buy an Olio Nuovo.
This is how we got our name
Fun Fact – We came up with our name after learning about Olio Nuovo. Yes, the first 3 months are amazing, but olive oil is fresh for 18 months and that’s hard to find for most people. We had an opportunity to make real olive oil that will always be ‘Fresh’ or ‘New’ and so we did. In Italian, they say – Nuovo. In Spanish – Nuevo. In Portuguese – Novo, and French – Nouveau. In the U.S we say Nuvo.
As always, thank you for your support!
