Plenty of vintage-dated, DOP certified olive oil is not authentic. With the volume and pricing of their brand, I would bet against it being real. I heard an interview a while back with a guy who wrote a book on this. He had lots of samples tested and found almost nothing sold at supermarkets to be authentic. I seriously doubt that the Kirkland stuff is. The description of it as “neutral” tasting compared to something else upthread says it all.
Well, it seems I might have been wrong. Short of chemical analysis, I don’t believe any claims of mass produced olive oil any more, certification or not.
Everyday Olive Oil - definitely the Costco Tuscan as aforementioned. Best value. I did enjoy the veleta- Liked the sardines even better.
The BEST Olive oil I have ever had was Domenica Fiore, Olio Riserva, organic extra virgin, DOP. Hard to find in the US though- Imported into Canada only in North America (last I checked).
Just received notification that my Rare Wine Co Tuscan oils have shipped. Just in time, recently finished up the olio nuovo they air freight in before the holidays. I know of no better source for a very nice portfolio of Tuscan oils.
Yaacov,
Have you ever tasted Alziari Olive Oil? Steve Plotnicki imported it for a while. Not sure whether it is organic, but it sure is tasty.
I rarely doubt costco’s product integrity when it comes to their own kirkland brands. They may not be the best, but I’ll know they are what they say they are (their toilet paper is awful)
yes, it’s very good and i like that style, but it’s stupidly expensive here in NYC.
SWMBO maintains that EVOO should come in a dark bottle to protect it. The Velveta (which is terrific) comes in a clear bottle. What’s the scoop?
I had tried to get the bottles changed this year…but failed. You cannot imagine how difficult business is here in Spain sometimes… I did get the label design changed and I’ll get new bottles ordered this summer when I return. FYI the oil does stay in the dark until you get it, as the cases are sealed in my warehouse. If you want to cover the bottles with a bit of foil to protect it from light that is not to difficult. Personally, I go through it pretty fast, so it really doesn’t have a chance to break down before I use it. 
please don’t kick nola to the curb because she doesn’t use the color bottle that you want!!
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
no disrespect intended. Honest question and an honest answer.
yes, i was joking. i was reprimanded upthread for similar.
Veleta is great and all, but it is pretty inexpensive.
I’d feel better about it if it cost a bit more. 
We have several Spanish, Italian and Greek oils that we like, but among them, Veleta is the least expensive and readily available, so it is hard to beat.
Well, next year I can do better…dark bottles and more expensive
Very few producers can follow our model: produce - self import - own warehouse - sell direct. Think of every middleman (woman) we have avoided. Same with the wines as well, except the US distribution requirements! Domestic producers I imagine have a higher overhead than we do. Our estate is a property that was passed down from generations through my husbands family. He bought out his sisters interest before we planted our first vine. The 800+ Lechin de Granada olive trees are hundreds of years old.
Here’s a quick review on Veleta. You cannot find a more unctuous and delicious oil at the price, and knowing where it came from is the icing on the cake. I have definitely had more complexity from very expensive Italian oils bought direct from producer but they are so difficult to come by. The beauty of Veleta is you can use it as a heavy finishing oil or dressing, and then also amp it up with aromatics that cannot possibly overwhelm the tremendous body it has, like motor oil. Pleasing pepper on the back end, not too strong. If you are looking for something robust and flexible, then there is simply nothing available at this price point.
Great stuff ! Please keep the tradition ! ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
extra-virgin olive oil label only means the measurement of acidity levels in olive oils I think, which is a good measurement to have (ie low acidity) because the pressure of pressing olive oil from olives generate heat which inturn produces unwanted acidity. but its just one of the factors that affect olive oil quality, freshness of the olive oil in my opinion matters more, alot of the lower quality “value” olive oil out there might be extra virgin, but might be oils stored in barrels over many years and then mixed together for a value sale.
I look for vintage on my bottle label of olive oil, while its not a required label, the good producers who are not afraid of lack of demand will voluntarily put the vintage on there to indicate freshness, and okay to toss away old ones that didn’t sell. its my two cents on olive oil.
Extra virgin olive oil has several requirements:
- Is Oil produced from 100% olive tree fruit (no blending with other vegetable or nut oils)
To be mechanically processed (no chemicals or heat used to extract the oil) may be produced by washing, pressing, centrifugation, decantation, and filtration.
To have an oleic acidity of less than 0.8 grams per 100 grams of olive oil.
To have excellent flavors - no defective flavor and having positive flavor attributes, such as, but not limited to olive, apple, green, sweet, grass, nutty, tomato and no negative flavor attributes.
The EU does now require a “best if used by date” to get the SOIVRE to export EVOO.
One of the things about Olive oil is after over a period of time it does go rancid. I have never heard of the idea that someone is holding on to barrels of old EVOO to blend with the fresh. That would really not be a smart move because the rancid oil would just contaminate the fresh. What they do is blend the new EVOO with either nut oils or safflower oil which is essentially odorless, add flavoring and colorants and then sell it as EVOO. This is rampant in the large surface industry. I have been told by producers I know in Jaen, that just about all the Italian EVOO has a base of Spanish EVOO, and that Italy only produces about 94% of of their own olive oil for their own consumption, the rest comes from Spain, and other EU countries.
The statement:
because the pressure of pressing olive oil from olives generate heat which inturn produces unwanted acidity.
With all due respect, is incorrect. After the EVOO is pressed or centrifuged, the left over pulp and seed (Pomace) may be heated or chemically treated with solvents to extract more oil. This oil is called Pomace Olive Oil and is typically sold in the grocery store on the bottom shelf. It is not only devoid of any good health qualities of EVOO, but is actually chemically altered and IMHO should not be used for human consumption.
Our oil is produced by a small stainless steel centrifuge mill that fits in our milling room (15 x 30 ft or so). It is all self contained, rinses the olives, sorts out the leaves and twigs, grinds the paste and centrifuges at a specific rpm to extract only the evoo. It is cleaned out every evening and starts fresh and clean the next morning. The oil gets decanted for several weeks, then bottled, labeled and corked by hand.
My former spouse is a buyer at Costco. She’s purchased EVOO and I assure you after talking to her that Costco takes their EVOO immensely seriously and have immediately terminated vendor(s) who were caught adulterating when they did sampling back here.
That’s good to know