Olive Oil Tasting and Amelia Olive Oil

At our Slow Food Vancouver meeting tonight we had an olive oil tasting hosted by Rachel Black. Rachel shared her knowledge and insight into the fascinating and complex art of producing quality olive oil and her personal connection to olive oil production.

A couple of key things to remember when buying olive oil are place of origin and production date. The origin of olives used in oil has as much impact on flavour as the origin of grapes in wine production. For best flavour, olive oil should be used within 12 to 18 months from production. Unlike wine, olive oil does not improve with age.

The extra virgin olive oils we tried were produced in Australia, Italy, Spain and Morocco. All but one had a date of production. Flavours ranged from mellow and one dimensional to sharp, metallic and bitter.

My favourite oil was Amelia--it was by far the most exquisite and fresh tasting. Probably so because the olives were harvested just this past November and the oil was bottled just last month! It had the most complex taste--very green to start, then a slight bite to finish with lots of body.

I was lucky enough to scoop up a bottle of the fresh 2007 Amelia oil. The shipment is almost sold out so if you want to try this fabulous oil contact Rachel at ameliaoil@telus.net soon!