Vintage Olive Oil

J

John Roberts

John Roberts
I've purchased vintage olive oil from RWC the last two years and really fallen in love with it. Since my household goes through a lot of olive oil, and the supply at RWC sells out so quickly, I've been forced to search around for other sources of oil.

When I've asked about 2012 oil, some stores have told me they've sold out but still have 2011 oil. Moreover, one of my orders for 2012 oil from a non-RWC store just arrived at my house and the oil is actually 2011.

This leads to my question(s): How long does vintage olive oil keep? Should I be offended that I received old oil? Should I pounce on the remaining 2011 oil, thus exploiting a Moneyball-esque market inefficiency? And how old is that NV olive oil that sitting on all those supermarket shelves anyway?
 
John, I share your fondness for high quality olive oil. My principal source has been Garagiste, and JR's batting average on the oils is much higher than the wines. Envoyer also ofter has some superior oils (e.g., Paolo Bea). All those bottles alway have a "consume before" or "best before" marking on them (usually just in the language of the producer), which seems usualy to be about 12 months from harvest. I have found if stored out of the light and away from heat -- I store them in the wine cellar -- they perform jsut fine for at least 6 months past that date, although the particularly floral, less peppery oils do seem to lose their top notes a bit by then. I hear that 2012 was a really excellent vintage in Sicily, Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria. Not sure about Friuli/Collio. My 2011s from Puglia and Sicily were just fine, though, to my taste.

As for the supermarkets, I'd be afraid to find out the answer to your question.
 
What do you folks do with your high quality olive oil at home? I've gotten several nice bottles as gifts recently, and I appreciate the tastes. But mostly I saute or make vinaigrettes and it seems a waste to put them there. So I never get around to using them.
 
I use them to finish the dish.

Pour some of the oil on the veggies after they are cooked, or onto the pasta right before it goes to the table. Dressing salads works. Cooking with these oils does seem a waste, the subtle flavors are destroyed.

Also dipping bread in them is great.
 
It can be hard to persuade people that it is better to eat less of a thing overall but have it taste better than to eat a whole honkin' slab of white fish unadorned or a chicken breast, or something.

But I am a complete heathen. I bristle at people who use olive oil in a butter-intended dish because they feel less guilty. It's in a bleedin' wine sauce, what's with the olive oil!
 
Light and heat are your enemies.

Some oils take a couple of months to knit together, but almost without fail I find them best around the 6 month mark, after which it's a long and gradual decline. Olive oil cakes are my favourite way to use up older olive oil.
 
I leave our quality olive oil in 3 places. The immediately-to-be-used batch stays conveniently on the kitchen counter. The soon-to-be-used batch stays in the fridge. The remainder stays in my wine cellar.

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Yixin:
I think olive oil cakes are a flawed concept, to be honest.
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So why do you make them?

Old olive oil... what else could one do with it? Facial rubs? Shallow fry? Let's workshop this.
 
I store my oils with my wines so they stay between 55 and 60 degrees. Even at those temps the oils lose a little after about 9 months or so. I'm ITB I would advise not to buy oils dated earlier than 2012.
My wife uses the oils as a base for simple salad dressings. Good oil used for cooking is a waste of money.
 
I haven't tried making it but how about olive oil ice cream? Since the oil isn't cooked would the flavor of a higher quality oil shine through?
 
OK. So I'll stay away from 2011 oil but I won't return the ones I got (although I'll consume them soon).

The Tuscan stuff I got from RWC was very good but aggressively peppery in 2011. That pepperiness actually subsided over time, which first gave me the idea that aging might actually be beneficial, at least to some degree. The 2012 Vetrice and Cogno have been stunning. I grabbed some 2012 Puglian stuff from Garagiste as soon as I learned RWC sold out. (Shit's harder to find than CRB.)

Sharon - I have a two-year-old and I'm always worried about environmental toxins so I assembled his metal Radio Flyer wagon with 2011 olive oil as the lubricant. No joke.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
I haven't tried making it but how about olive oil ice cream? Since the oil isn't cooked would the flavor of a higher quality oil shine through?
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I have only had olive oil gelato but never a side by side comparison to highlight different oils.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
What do you folks do with your high quality olive oil at home? I've gotten several nice bottles as gifts recently, and I appreciate the tastes. But mostly I saute or make vinaigrettes and it seems a waste to put them there. So I never get around to using them.
Click to expand...

At the moment, a slice of toasted Orwasher's sesamo, 1 sliced up raw ramp from the green market today, a generous drizzle of 2012 Madonna dell'olivo's monovarietal itrana from Campania and a schmeer of Murray's fresh ricotta. A lovely lead into to a bowl of Good Mother Stallards over rice and Windwall Farm greens.

Now, what to drink?

ETA: an 1/8 of AJ Adam 2011 Hofberg kab left in the fridge is delicious and will hold me until I figure out the answer.
 
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