Product Description

This delicious cold pressed Fructus Ligurian extra virgin olive oil has a pleasing fresh palate and delicate, sweet, fruity almost buttery flavour with a slight peppery kick at the finish. The acidity level is between 0.4% and 0.5%. (Extra virgin olive oil must have an acidity level of less than 0.8%.)

The Taggiasche olives used in Ardoino Fructus EVOO come from olive groves situated in the western part of Liguria, on terraces at approximately 650 metres above sea level. This produces a small crop that ripens later than olives in the rest of Italy. It takes about 4 kg of olives to make 1L of Fructus Olive Oil.

The olives either fall naturally, or are prompted to fall by shaking the branch with a long rod (a practice known as ‘bacchiatura’). They are handpicked and then are ground into a paste by stone wheels. The paste is spread onto round woven mats (or ‘fiscoli’), which are stacked on top of each other. Cold pressing ensures that the oil’s delicate qualities are protected whilst the oil is being extracted. After centrifugation, the oil is repeatedly decanted to remove the bulk of the sediment. This avoids the need for any filtration and  ensures that the oil retains its characteristically rich golden colour and sweet flavour.

Fructus is marvellous on its own with bread, to dress salads or to season food when cooking is complete. The bottle is presented in a gorgeous gold foil wrapping.

Also available in a 1L bottle.

about the producer

The Ardoino family of Liguria started making olive oil around the 1870’s from a combination of the prized taggiasche olive and other locally grown varieties. In the 1920’s the company began exporting olive oil exclusively to the United States and despite the interruptions of two World Wars, earned a reputation as one of the finest “Négociants Eleveurs” merchants of extra virgin olive oil. In the early 1970s the Isnardi family took over the company and has been running the operation true to its history ever since.

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