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Extra Virgin Olive Oil: how a quality product is born

We’re all used to dressing tasty summer salads and vegetables in general with oil, but perhaps not everyone knows the journey olives take to reach our table as a top-quality product. Along that path there are enchanting moments, gestures born of passion and tradition for fine things, innovative techniques that never lose sight of the steps that have always accompanied this ancient art.
Producing good olive oil is an art that requires the participation of several people, who put in the effort needed to transform those beautiful olives shining on the trees of our hills into a delicate nectar.
Once upon a time, people would meet at the oil mill to exchange ideas and opinions, ready to head home as soon as their harvest had been turned into that precious juice we still find bottled on our tables today. Today, we can still find the atmosphere of those old oil mills within our facility.
At Azienda Ferrari, located in Località San Liborio snc – Caprarola (VT) – oil extraction is still done cold, below 28°C. Cold pressing keeps the oil’s nutritional values intact, ensuring not only a delicate taste but also a high presence of nutrients and powerful antioxidants. Choosing to dress our dishes with cold-pressed olive oil doesn’t just mean enriching every dish with flavor, but also providing our bodies with elements that are valuable for our wellbeing. Besides cold-pressing our own olives, we also offer, on request, third-party processing services. Ask us for a no-obligation quote.

From olive tree to table: the journey of extra virgin olive oil

A good extra virgin olive oil, before reaching the table, goes through six different stages of processing:

  • washing
  • crushing
  • malaxation
  • pressing
  • separation
  • storage

Defoliation

Defoliation is the first stage of this long process, in which leaves and branches that would alter the oil’s organoleptic characteristics are removed first. At Azienda Ferrari, located in Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, just a short distance from Rome, defoliation is free of charge.

Washing

Washing is the first step in this long journey: once harvested by mechanical or manual means, the olives are first placed in weighing clamps and, after being logged in dedicated processing records, are fed into the hopper. From here, a conveyor belt carries them to the washing machine to prepare them for the next stage. Washing the olives removes any traces of soil, dust, and leaves. Clean, running drinking water is used for this stage.
Once cleaned of any residue, the olives undergo crushing. In this stage, the olives are crushed by a stone mill, called a millstone, which turns them into a paste.

Malaxation

The olive paste then moves on to malaxation, a technique in which it is slowly and gently mixed to help release the oil and allow individual droplets to merge into larger ones. The time needed for malaxation is decided by the mill operator, based on their experience and the type of cultivation.

Pressing

We now reach the pressing stage: the olive paste is drawn up by a pump and fed into the centrifuge. Here, the various components of the olive paste are separated according to their specific weight. The vegetation water and olive oil are filtered through a device that splits them into two separate containers, while the virgin pomace is carried out of the facility by dedicated augers to reach the large pomace mills that will turn it into pomace oil. Once the oil has been extracted from the virgin pomace, it becomes spent pomace and is either sent to thermoelectric power plants in Northern Europe or used as fuel for heating homes and offices.

Separation

Meanwhile, our olive oil moves into its final stages. From the two containers holding vegetation water and olive oil, the liquids reach the centrifugal separators, where they undergo a further selection that, following the same principle already described for centrifugation, uses the centrifugal acceleration of the decanter to remove even the smallest trace of impurities and crushed-olive sediment, yielding that greenish liquid with a unique flavor that has long been a source of pride for Italy around the world.

Storage

The oil obtained is then placed into specific 18/10 stainless steel containers, sorted according to its oleic acidity, and stored in cool, dark spaces. Temperature and absence of light are key factors in producing a good oil, which is then subjected to laboratory analysis and specific tests (such as the Panel Test) to determine whether it qualifies as Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Virgin Olive Oil, and so on. Once the settling period is complete, our oil is ready to be bottled and reach your table.

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The journey from olive to oil is long and labor-intensive, but not everyone, even those living in a country where olive oil has left a deep mark on its historical memory, knows its enchanting moments.
Producing exceptional oil is an art that requires passion and commitment, sacrifice as well as technique, and the combined effort of many people; in the past, the oil mill took on the character of a sacred place, where oil was extracted from olives and which, throughout the milling season, served as the center and driving force of community life.
Back then, the oil mill was, quite simply, a town square, an agora, a natural gathering place for meeting and exchanging ideas, while waiting for the olives to be transformed into that precious juice which today, without us realizing it or knowing its many steps, we find bottled.

Contact us for more information.
Mobile +39 338 1894531 (Federico)