Milling

We are growing 50 varieties of tomatoes at IL Fiorello Little ones, big ones, green ones, yellow ones, and red ones. Black Krim and Evil Olive are two of the more unique varieties in our Farm gardens. The “Love Apple” in France, treasured in Italy and originally from the Americas. Olive Oil and tomatoes are […]

  It is time again to prune the olives – but didn’t I just do that. A whole year has passed so quickly. Italian Proverb “Prune each tree so a swallow can fly through the tree without touching its wings.” Get those shears sharpened. Clean the blades, Grab a good hat, a flexible pair of […]

Milling is done for the year 2018, and we have learned many lessons about olives. Yet again, Mother Nature rules and Farming is a risky business. Olives are a cyclical fruit, and most growers were down in crop volume from 60% to 80 % this year. Additionally, many people did not even harvest their meager […]

  In our tasting room I am frequently asked about fraud in olive oil. The USP* warns that the amount of food fraud has increased by 60% over the last few years. They state that the most adulterated foods are olive oil, milk, honey, syrups, lemon juice, pomegranate juice, tea, spices, and seafood. After the […]

    At IL Fiorello we consider olive oil competitions very important for one major reason, to make sure our oils are as good as, or better than, the rest of the oils in the world. Just last year we won 24 individual awards. It is so important to benchmark our oils with others. Medals […]

    A hallmark time at IL Fiorello is when all the extra virgin olive oil is finished and “put to bed” so to speak, and we can have fun making our co-milled oils. Our promise to you is that we will never make infused oils, only co-milled.  Co-milling is when we run beautiful olives […]

  There are always so many questions about milling olives, and making extra virgin olive oil. Here is the simplified synopsis:  good fruit, meaning good olives, makes good oil!   The process Olives are delivered to the mill the same day they are harvested   2. Olives are inspected and photographed and the temperature is documented […]

  An interesting question is when to harvest olives. This seems to be an easy decision. The answer; when they are ripe. But the real answer is actually much more complicated. Before you plant an olive tree, you should understand what kind of olive oil you want to produce and what flavor do you want […]

  OLIO NUOVO, new oil. It’s full of pungency, olive bits, bitterness, texture, deliciously wonderful. This is the oil to pour over toasted bread like bruschetta. Olio Nuovo is the best! Everyone should stand in line to taste this fabulous product. It’s a gift of nature, but not for the faint of heart- as this is a new and […]

As we begin harvest and milling season, I am always reminded of the long history, culture, and memories of olive oil. With respect for this very ancient product, we make oil with new machines and very modern technology. Nick, our assistant miller, and I are taking again the Master Milling course at UC Davis to […]