Early Harvest Picual EVOO - Mount Zero

This is the very first of our season olive oil, picked nearly a month early to maximize its flavor and nutritional content. Made from 100% Picual olives, it's characterized by wonderfully fruity flavors of tomato, fig and green herbs with a mild pepperiness. This premium extra virgin olive oil is best enjoyed in its pure form, where its quality and flavor can shine! Think simple salad dressings, dipped with bread or drizzled over anything warm or hot that will result in an incredible aroma release. Gold Medal, Australian International Olive Awards Our Early Harvest Picual EVOO was a hit with the judges at the 2023 awards, with them awarding us a Gold Medal! Here's what the judges had to say about it: "Complex fresh green, herbaceous aroma with floral notes, ripe apple, cut grass and rocket. Good transfer to the mouth with more complex olive fruit, rocket, floral and sweet notes. Very pleasant, buttery mouth feel. Well-balanced bitterness and pungency. Very good lingering finish. Complex and multidimensional." Grand Prestige Gold Medal, Terraolivo International Olive Oil Competition Based in the heart of the Mediterranean, Terraolivo is a renowned platform where the finest olive oils from across the globe are evaluated and honoured. Competing alongside established producers hailing from traditional olive-cultivating countries like Greece, Italy, and Spain, our Early Harvest Picual EVOO clinched the prestigious Grand Prestige Gold medal. It's just further proof that Australia's olive oil industry is right up there with the best! Chemistry / Nutrition: - Total Biophenols; 203 parts per million. Biophenols are the antioxidants that give extra virgin olive oil its great flavour (pepperiness & bitterness) and incredible health properties. Typical oils range between 120 ppm and 350 pmm. - Free Fatty Acid (FFA); 0.19%. To be considered extra virgin olive oil the oil must have a free acidity, expressed as free oleic acid, of no more than 0.8 grams per 100 grams and no sensory defects. In a sense, the FFA level indicates the fruit’s condition at the time the oil was extracted. It's essentially a freshness quotient. About the producer: Did you know southern Australia is one of the best places in the world to grow olives, with a climate very similar to the Mediterranean? Mount Zero is a family-owned producer of award-winning olives and olive oils in the Wimmera / Grampians region outside of Melbourne. They’ve been focused on sustainable and biodynamic growing techniques since long before those became buzzwords, both on their own plantation and selected neighboring family farms from whom they also source a range of organic, biodynamic olives, grains, and other produce. Mount Zero were inducted as “Melbourne Food & Wine Legends” in 2010 and their olives and EVOOS feature at Melbourne’s famous Food and Wine Festival every year as well as many of the top restaurant kitchens in the city. We love their range of EVOOs - both the blends as well as the single varietal oils. Get ready to further develop your taste for EVOO and find a new favorite! And we especially love their agrumato-style EVOOs, where their Frantoio olives are simultaneously pressed with various fruits which deeply merge the flavors into a wonderful oil for lots of different creative and delicious uses!