Carolea Olives
L’olive principale de Calabre — grosse, à la fois olive de table verte et belle huile fruitée.
The Carolea is the most important olive of Calabria, the toe of Italy, especially around Catanzaro. It is a large, handsome fruit and genuinely dual-purpose: picked green it makes a good firm table olive ; pressed it gives a fresh, fruity, well-balanced oil with grassy and almond notes and a moderate bitterness. A southern all-rounder that anchors Calabrian olive growing.
- Origin
- Calabria (Catanzaro) · Italy
- Type
- Table & oil
- Colour
- Green to black
- Size
- Large
- Flavour (oil)
- Fruity, grassy, almond
- Role
- Calabria’s mainstay
- Best for
- Table olives and balanced oil
The toe of Italy’s olive
Calabria is serious olive country, and the Carolea does most of the work — a large, adaptable fruit that growers can send either to the table or to the press depending on the year and the market. Its oil is medium-intensity and approachable, fruity and balanced rather than fierce, which makes it an easy, versatile bottle.
Calabrian oil is often excellent value precisely because the region is less famous than Tuscany or Puglia. A named Carolea oil from a Calabrian estate is a good way to drink real southern Italian extra virgin without paying for a fashionable label.