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The situation looks good. Even if in certain areas the plants have been damaged by the cold, the Moraiolo olive trees had a good setting of fruit, so we might obtain more oil than previously expected”.

We talk about this year’s Dop olive oil production in the Chianti region with Fiammetta Nizzi Grifi, agronomist and technical manager of the Consorzio dell’Olio Dop Chianti Classico.

The “Designation of Origin” certification is becoming more and more interesting for the producers.

“The olive oil producers – Nizzi Grifi points out – are increasingly interested in the certification of the Dop, so much so that this year we’ve had an increase in the number of registered companies and in the number of bottles produced. The Dop certification has had more success than the 100% Italian Olive Oil”.

“It’s a perception I have today – she remarks – and I hope to reconfirm it in six months. This is a good sign, even if I don’t know if it originates from a growth in consumers’ education or from a reaction to the scandals that we’ve seen in the olive oil world. People are looking for certified oils to buy”.

“Farming is a difficult job – she continues – at times paradoxical. Why? This year we have a good quantity of olives, and so far the harvest is showing that the summer drought has given the fruits more harmonious flavours. We don’t find peaks of bitterness and spiciness, the typical disharmonies of the olive oils produced in October: the flavour is elegant and not at all aggressive”.

“Let’s see if this changes – she remarks – If so it means that the olives are already ripe and the harvest, unfortunately, will be shorter. I’ll be able to judge it more accurately in another week, when we begin to harvest the Moraiolo trees. If the olive oil won’t turn out to be more intense and bitter than spicy, it means that I’m right”.

She concludes by giving us very interesting news about the monocultivar olive oils: “They’re increasing. We’ve asked the Regione Toscana and the Ministry to insert the Leccio del Corno among the five main ones that make up our Dop olive oil. The request has been approved and published. From next year the monocultivar Leccio del Corno will have the Dop Chianti Classico certification, together with the other four traditional varieties: Leccino, Frantoio, Correggiolo and Moraiolo“.

Matteo Pucci

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