OLIO | sabinaon-eng

Sabina's Gold

A marvellous testament to a greater part of the history of our territory

Olio al frantoio
Olive raccolte
Raccolta delle olive
Macina al Museo dell'Olio
Ulivo in bronzo - Museo dell'Olio

"The olive tree is the conducting thyme that weaves itself through the long vicissitudes of Sabina's history. A time span of many millenniums is proof to the unfolding of history and the passage of time. A privileged observer whose branches, contorted by centuries, proudly tells of myths, legends and the events of antiquity."

Tersilio Leggio - The Olive and Sabina.

The olive is a tree that from the most remote of times has been closely linked to the Sabine countryside. An element that with the passing of the centuries has never being absent, thanks to human care it has strengthened to become its most typical feature.

For a land like ours, with large extensions of olive groves and a great abundance of olive trees extra virgin olive oil is of great importance.

Extra virgin olive oil is almost the only oil to be used in its natural state without having to undergo some other extraction process or refinement, it is a marvellous solvent. It manages to capture the aromas and flavours of foods and amalgamate them in the most delicious of ways. Olive Oil has different flavours and aromas depending on the different types of olives; Raja, Carboncella, Leccino, Frantoio, Olivastrone, Moraiolo, Olivago, Salviana and Rosciola.

The classification of Olive Oil is done following a fairly complex system that is not always well understood. This done is done through a point system based on the organoleptic qualities of the product, deriving from the results of visual, olfactory and gustatory tests, as well as acidity and other biochemical characteristics that may be required for each different category.

The most basic classification is that of virgin olive oils that have been obtained only with physical means and no chemical inputs or the refined oils that are not fit for human consumption.

At the moment in Sabina there are 1,100,000 olive trees that produce on average, depending on seasonal factors, between 12,000 to 30,000 tonnes of olives that translate into between 2,200 to 5,000 tonnes of oil.

Since 1996 Sabine Olive Oil has being recognised as a DOP - Denomination of Protected Origin product, meaning that only olive oil for Sabina can use the name. It has a gold yellow colour with green reflexes, an aromatic flavour with an acidity level that does not exceed 0.60%.

The history of Olive Oil

> Where to purchase Olive Oil

Sabina Dop Olive Oil Consortium

The consortium is dedicated to safeguarding the quality of the olive oil produced in the Sabina region and ensuring that no olive oil is labeled as such until it has met the stringent standards required.

It has being recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture as a specific product by a law issued on the 23th October 2009 and gazette on the 4th November of that year.

The consortium was formed by producers of olives, pressing mill owners and bottlers working in a vast area covering forty six municipalities in the provinces of Rome and Rieti, its aims is:

Ensure that the strict standards of production are observed.
Guarantee to the consumer the quality of Extra Virgin Olive Oil DOP Sabina remains constant.
Promote through studies, conventions, fairs, and guided tasting sessions the knowledge of the product

www.sabinadop.it

> Olive Oil Tour

> Oil 2000 years Old

From the remotes of times (olive cultivation started around IV millenniums BC), olive oil has had a strong religious meaning and was commonly used in all important functions like the anointment of kings. Homer narrates that Ulysses used an olive tree trunk to make his nuptial thalamus and used a pole of the same wood to blinded Poluphemus.

The great expansion in olive oil consumption occurred in the Roman Era, especially after the III century BC. It was used as fuel for lamps, for hygienic purposes, in medicine, in veterinary sciences, for cosmetic use in the production of perfumes and soaps and as a lubricant for mechanical appliances. It was also extensively employed in manual jobs; the working of leather, to shine precious stones, polish statues, wood and ivory, to protect metals form rust and to sharpen work utensils.

Its therapeutic qualities were well known from antiquity. A great advocate of Sabine Olive Oil was the Greek doctor Galen, who lived at the times of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He considered it the best in the known world and used it as a base for many medications. Its fame survived and was still advised for medical prescriptions in the VI century AD.

dove comprare olio