Olive tree is a centuries-old tree, that begins the fruits wished about its fifth year of life, it continues to grow

until his thirtieth year of life and it reaches the maturity when it is fifty years old. The orange blossom, or rather a white flower, opens and the fruit can begin to grow, between April and May. The fruits, drupas, change their colour and they begin bigger until the veraison period. The olives are harvested at the end of October, in November, in December and in January. The olives are picked by hand and/or with the aid of tools and the time of pressing are within 24 hours after harvesting to have a precious olive oil.

It is also important the transport from the farmland to the oil mill, for this reason the olives are carried in big boxes or in plastic boxes. When the olives arrive to the mill, they are cleaned, removing dry land, leaves and twigs.

In the first time the pressing takes place through the hammer mill, then through kneading. At the end there is the  extraction system, a  three phase method with dual-extraction. Finally the olive oil is clarified with stainless steel centrifugal separators.
Storage in stainless steel  vessels with a nitrogen system in each tank, with the wording of foodstuffs. They are preserved  in dark places and its temperature is controlled the year between 12° and  18°C.
In each tank there is a nitrogen system to prevent the early ageing of the olive oil. In this way we can guarantee olive oil  from the bottling.

The bottling system guarantees different shapes, searching to create the best packaging. Moreover, we are also keen to state clearly that, all our olive oils are bottled in dark glass bottle to protect the product from sunlight.
Francesco Costa oil mill devotes itself to grown oil tree, pressing (on his own behalf or on behalf of third parties) and  bottling with the collaboration of a qualified staff.

VOCABULARY

Positive attributes:  qualities attained thanks to a lot of experience in olives processing.
•   Bitter: it is a characteristic of the olive oil that is obtained by green olives.
•    Pungent: sensation of prickly aftertaste, this sensation is very strong in olive oils well-stocked of beneficial antioxidant ingredients.
•    Green apple: characteristic flavour of aftertaste, that remember us the homonymous fruit.
•    Floral: pleasant sensation that remember us the penetrating scent of the flower.
•    Fruity: perception of the typical flavour of a fresh and healthy olive.
•    Herbaceous: particular hint of the perception of fruity that remember us the smell of freshly cut grass.
•    Green tomato: aroma that remember us the homonymous fruit, this aroma is typical for the olive oil that come from Sicily.
•    Artichoke: aroma that remember us the homonymous fruit, typical olive oil that is originated from "nocellara etnea" olives.
•    Full-bodied: tactile sensation of typical compactness of qualities olive and oil.
•    Gradations of colour from green to yellow: the gradation can change according to the area of origin, extraction technology, ripening of the fruits, but the colour it does not affect the quality.

Negative attributes: defects encountered in olive oils that come from no/low tillage of olives.

•    Winey-vinegary: typical smell of olive oils obtained with badly preserved olives, where there is the presence of alcohol or vinegar. Its flavour and smell are typical of a vinegary wine. (even if the bitterness is within the parameter set of an extra virgin olive oil, it cannot be considered an extra virgin olive oil)
•    Heating: perception of smell that remember us the cheese, it happens when the olives are badly preserved in canvas or plastic bags. (even if the bitterness is within the parameter set of an extra virgin olive oil, it cannot be considered an extra virgin olive oil).
•    Mould: it is the typical smell of olive oil when these ones are collected in a hot-damp environment (even if the bitterness is within the parameter set of an extra virgin olive oil, it cannot be considered an extra virgin olive oil)
•    Fusty/muddy sediment: characteristic flavour of oil from olives that have been piled or stored in such a way as to have reached an advanced stage of anaerobic fermentation, or of oil which has been left in contact with the sediment
•    Earth: characteristic flavour of oil olives that have been obtained from olives harvested from the ground after 20 or 30 days. The smell remember us the rain. (typical of olive oils with bitterness and with a lot of peroxides, therefore not directly edible).
•    Rancid: due to a badly preservation under daylight environment and in stainless steel  vessels without a nitrogen system in each tank, therefore in contact with air speed up the early ageing of the olive   oil, typical rancid flavour. (the ageing causes an increase of the bitterness, of the perioxides, becoming a lampant oil, so not directly edible).
•    Reddish reflections: when the olive oil is not protected from sunlight.

THE QUALITIES OF AN EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL:

1)HEALTHY AND WELL CULTIVATED OLIVED

2)FAVOURABLE CLIMATE

3)HARVESTED DIRECTLY FROM THE OLIVE TREE

4)RIGHT LEVEL OF RIPENESS

5)TRANSPORTED TO THE OIL MILL WITH WELL-AIRED BOXES

6)IMMEDIATELY PRESSED

7)TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED AND SANITARY EQUIPMENT.