olives101EST. 2004 · PROVENCE TO THE WORLD
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Olive oil with fresh olives

Olive oil

Grades, origins, and how not to be fooled — the honest guide.

Olive oil is fruit juice. That single fact explains almost everything that matters about it: it is alive, it is perishable, it fades with light and time, and the fresher and more carefully made it is, the better it tastes and the more good it does you. Everything else — the grades, the labels, the medals — is detail layered on top of that one truth.

The grades, plainly

Extra virginTop grade. Mechanically pressed, no heat or chemistry, free of defects, acidity under 0.8%. The only oil worth buying to finish a dish.
VirginSame process, minor defects allowed, acidity up to 2%. Rarely sold at retail.
“Pure” / “light”Refined oil with a little virgin added back. Stripped, neutral, for high-heat cooking at best. Not a flavour oil.
Start here: read Extra virgin that isn’t — the kitchen test that tells you, in thirty seconds and with your own mouth, whether the bottle in your hand is the real thing.

Oils by country

Spain makes the most. Italy sells the most (not always its own). Greece eats the most. Each producing country has its signature olives and its signature style — the soft Arbequina of Catalonia, the fierce Coratina of Puglia, the green Koroneiki of Greece, the Picholine of the French Midi. We are building a page for each. They are coming.

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