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<pre>Hi Mike,
No doubt you will have many comments on this matter.
Firstly, before anything else, having been a judge at
the SA Olive Show, I would say it has been a difficult
growing season with few stand out oils and most oils
being quite soft on the palate. The fact that your oil
tested as extra virgin doesn't mean much. Very few
oils entered in the shows are faulty or not extra
virgin these days. Being extra virgin is a basic
requirement. I'll try to be brief and to the point:

Suggest you skip the mat press and use a continuous
press. Mat press tends to produce a softer oil with
more chance of contamination/oxidation.I disagree with
the assessment of frantoio. Of course it depends on so
many factors but in my experience frantoio evoo
maintains its flavour characteristics very well,
longer than most other varieties. Manzanillo can be
much more tricky. If you want your oil to improve then
increase the proportion of green olives. Again picking
too ripe might increase volume but you get a softer
oil that may not be as stable. I doubt that 4 months
on lees is the problem. It settles to the bottom and
has a preservative effect too. Storage in 1/2 empty
plastic is very problematic. Both the plastic
container and the air are bad for your oil. I doubt
filtering would help. Filtering also removes flavour
and shouldn't be necessary if you allow solids to
settle in an airtight stainless steel tank. Also
storing next to table olives in brine shouldn't be an
issue if your olive oil is correctly stored. Yes as I
said above you may have picked your olives too ripe.
Higher polyphenol levels in less ripe olives increases
its stability. 22% extraction for frantoio/manzanillo
is pretty normal so I tend to think storage, the
nature of the season, method of extraction and
proportion of green olives all contributed to your
problem. Possibly the frantoio and manzanillo did not
blend well too.If you only have a small quantity of
oil then try buying 20 litres of frantoio picked
greener than yours and processed in a continuous
press. Experiment blending different proportions to
see how it improves the oil and you might learn
something that improves your outcome next season. You
really need to buy yourself a stainless steel olive
oil tank.

Cheers,
Antony Whiting
First Creek
Waterfall Gully SA
--- Mike Wilson <mike.wilson@...> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I am after some comments on an olive oil I made this
> year.
>
> A couple of months ago this oil was featured in a
> tasting of 2005 local
> olive oils and it came out looking pretty good.
> Aromatic, plenty of depth
> and flavour. I had high hopes for the oil to win
> medals at the shows. Then
> last weekend the Hunter Olive Show was held and the
> oil did not score well
> at all. It had gone flat and boring. I have since
> re-tasted it and I agree
> with the judges - flat and boring. Not actually
> faulty, but not at all
> interesting. The oil was tested by the IOOC
> accredited lab in Wagga Wagga
> and came out fine as EVOO and no problems.
>
> I have a number of theories that might be the cause
> of this, and I'd be
> grateful for any comments of anybody with similar
> experience. The oil was
> predominantly Frantoio with some Manzanillo, pressed
> on a small Enorrosi
> hammer mill without any additional heating and using
> the traditional mat
> press rather than a centrifuge for extraction.
> Picked fairly ripe - probably
> 90% black - by hand, pressed the following day.
>
> Options for what went wrongs are:
>
> 1. It is Frantoio, and this is what tends to happen
> to this variety (the
> comments of a very experienced grower)
> 2. The oil was left too long on its muddy lees
> (about 4 months)
> 3. The oil was stored with too much exposure to air
> (60 litre plastic drum,
> half empty for 4 months)
> 4. The oil was unfiltered and the vegetable matter
> has contaminated the oil
> 5. The oil was stored next to table olives in brine
> and this has affected
> the flavours
> 6. The olives were picked too ripe and the
> polyphenol level is too low for
> stability
> 7. The sansa was malaxed too long and the oil
> over-extracted somehow (we got
> about 22%)
> 8. Something else
> 9. All of the above!
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Mike Wilson
> Hunter Valley.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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