A Collection Of The World's Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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The New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC) is one of the top 10 olive oil events in the world.  10 of the olive oils on this site medaled Gold or Silver this year including Chacewater Olive Mill.  Chacewater is one of California’s best producers and the farming is either Certified Organic or Sustainable (there is really no difference with regards to the farming practices in this area of CA some farmers just don’t feel like jumping through the hoops).  Jerry and Eleni

We love working with Chacewater because they are very conscientious producers.  The estate is Certified Organic across the board and they have one of the best olive mills in the country outfitted with the latest Italian milling gear..  Their Olive Oil wins medals at the biggest events in the world.  They produce 3  olive oils  Allegra, Mission and their Tuscan Blend.  To learn more about Chacewater Olive Mill and Winery Click Here or on the image above to visit their producer page.

The Academy defines fine chocolate as:

Containing no vegetable fat other than cocoa butter…  With a minimum cocoa content of: Dark 60%; Milk 30%…  Where the quality, provenance and treatment of the cocoa beans have been considered…  Containing no artificial additives such as vanillin, flavorings, coloring’s, preservatives, etc.

Members of the Academy are committed to ethically sourced chocolate.

We tell clients Olive Oil is the magic sauce  

It is literally a  gift from the universe in the sense that it actually upgrades the bioavailability of the other good foods you eat.  In other words you could steam broccoli or you could sauté broccoli in EVOO.  The sautéed broccoli will render more of its polyphenols than the steamed.  The fats in EVOO act as a transport system for the polyphenols in the other foods you eat.  Whereas the polyphenols in vegetables are water soluble consequently you end up pouring most of the nutrients down the drain when you steam or boil.  Why are polyphenols important well they act like antioxidants reducing oxidative stress by neutralizing free radicals.

“Oleocanthal”  

In addition to hundreds of polyphenols that are in EVOO the phenolic compound known as “oleocanthal” that derives its name from the Latin oleo=olive and canth=sting and “al” from the fact that the phenolic is in the aldehyde chemical group. Basically describing the bitter spicy flavor of better Olive Oils. There is a lot of oleocanthal in EVOO in fact it makes up about a third of the polyphenol component of EVOO. It has very strong anti-inflammatory properties and inflammation is the major cause off most chronic diseases. Heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other neural disorders to name a few. It is a good idea to consume 3 Tbs. a day either on its own or in the food you eat.

It’a just like salt and pepper   

Just so you know the bitterness may not appeal to you when you taste Olive Oil on its own because the better oils usually have a strong bitter and pepper component (that is the oleocanthal).  However when you put it on food it’s like salt and pepper or any other condiment you might use and it improves the flavor of whatever you are eating.  It is even good drizzled on vanilla ice cream with a crunchy sea salt and toasted almonds.

Americans don’t consume enough EVOO  

Europeans consume about 16 Liters of EVOO a year where as in the US individuals consume on average about 1 liter per year.   On top of that most of the EVOO that Americans consume, about 70%, isn’t even olive oil according to European standards.  So we have a long way to go in order to catch up.  Pour it on everything and learn to cook with it.  A lot of folks are confused about it’s smoke point. If you are using fresh EVOO like you’ll find on this site with a decent polyphenol count the smoke point is actually 425º.  That’s way more than a good sizzle!

This is what you need to know about Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Crossroads Food and Wine.

• The Flos Olei Guide reviews and  rates the farming, harvest and milling practices of the 500 top EVOO producers in the world in addition to the quality of the olive oils.  About 100 producers score in the excellent to very excellent range (90 -98 Points) The EVOOs we offer on the site come from the top 10% of this elite group with in the Guide.   In addition we offer the Olive Oils from 3 of our favorite wine makers from Tuscany.  These wine makers are infatuated with their olive groves and we refer to them as bucket list EVOOs because they are very rare.

• Yes Crossroads4ExtraVirginOliveOil is a different site than the CrossroadsFoodAndWine site but it is the same good people dedicated to bringing you great artisan foods. We partner with the best importers and producers so there is a different set of rules associated with each site.

• There are 3 really good EVOOs, from Marco Viola on the CrossroadsFoodAndWine site that can be incorporated into a purchase of beans to bars chocolate and other artisan foods from Italy to meet the minimum for free shipping which is $75.

A high percentage of our producers submit their EVOOs for review in the guide and score in the high 90s which is exceptional.  Here are a few of the highlights from the 2016 Flos Olei Guide.

The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Extraction System: Frantoio Franci, Italy
The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Light Fruity: Frantoio Bonamini, Italy
The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil  – Medium Fruity: Azienda Agricola Pruneti, Italy
The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil  – Intense Fruity: Azienda Agraria Viola, Italy