AOVE Vallseca · jug 2 L

Extra virgin from Arbequina, the traditional variety of the Ribera d’Ebre. Picked while the fruit is turning colour and not yet black, between late October and November. It yields less oil than if we waited, but this is when the oil is good. No more than twelve hours pass between tree and mill. Leaves are blown off, the fruit is washed and milled whole, stone included. The paste is stirred below 27 °C for about forty minutes — that is what makes it cold extracted. A two-phase decanter then separates the oil without adding water, and it settles slowly in steel tanks under nitrogen, in the dark. Sweet and gentle on the palate, with green almond, apple and fresh grass. Bitterness and pepperiness are there, but restrained. Best raw: salads, fish, toast and baking.