The most valuable extra virgin olive oil from this year's first harvest has just arrived in Prague.
You can now find Novello oil from one of Italy's best olive oil producers, Giuseppe Ursini, in our stores and e-shop. It is pressed from local varieties of Gentile di Chieti, Leccino, and Peranzana olives, which Giuseppe grows in his groves in Abruzzo and presses within 48 hours. It has a moderately distinctive, slightly bitter taste reminiscent of artichokes. You can pour it into 0.5 l or 1 l bottles. In the coming weeks, you can look forward to Novello oil from Puglia and Sicily.
WHAT IS OLIO NOVELLO
Olio Novello ("new oil") is fresh, unfiltered extra virgin olive oil from the first harvest, whose season lasts only from November to January. Unlike regular oils, which are left to settle and then filtered, Novello oil is bottled immediately after pressing. This allows it to retain its distinctive fruitiness, the fresh aroma of freshly cut grass, a slight spiciness, and a rich green color. It is literally the essence of olives – authentic, full of life and flavor.
The tradition of the first olive oil is very popular in Italy, and producers look forward to that sacred moment when thick, bright green olive oil begins to flow from the press all year round. In the past, they even kept this delicacy for themselves and their loved ones, and traditionally enjoyed Novello oil with fresh white bread, which they dipped into the oil right in the press room.
FRESHNESS YOU CAN TASTE
Novello oil is cold-pressed very gently within a few hours of harvesting from high-quality, hand-picked olives, and bottled without further processing. It contains pieces of pulp, which give it a unique thickness, color, taste, and lots of healthy antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, and minerals. Novello oil has a distinctive, fresh and pleasantly bitter taste reminiscent of freshly cut grass or green tomatoes.
HOW TO USE AND STORE IT
The greatest advantage of Novello oil is its freshness, fresh taste, and high nutrient content. Therefore, it is best to enjoy it raw, for example on bruschetta, to season dishes such as legume soups, meats, pasta, or salads, ideally not too spicy, so that the unique taste of the oil can stand out. This type of oil is not suitable for cooking, as the pieces of pulp it contains would cause it to burn and lose all its valuable properties.
Storage is crucial for Novello oil, as it is a fresh, aromatic olive oil that retains its flavor and nutrients only when handled correctly:
- store it at a constant room temperature; Novello oil does not belong in the refrigerator or near the stove
- use it only for seasoning, not for cooking
- protect it from light
- close the bottle tightly after each use to prevent the oil from oxidizing
- ideally, consume it within 3 months of pressing
WHAT MAKES OUR NOVELLO OLIVE OIL EXCEPTIONAL
- All our Novello oils come exclusively from small Italian producers who press the oil from their own locally grown olives. They never buy olives or oil from other countries.
- They grow olives in the most ecological and sustainable way possible and harvest them gently by hand using nets or baskets so that the fruit is not damaged or oxidized.
- They press the oil only from carefully selected olives within a few hours of harvesting, directly on site, without lengthy storage and transport, which reduce quality.