PRODUCTION METHODSUnlike wine, olive oil doesneurot improve with age - it deteriorates. Within one year most of the good qualities of a pressing can be lost. For maximum conservation and general quality, only olives picked from the tree must be used, never windfalls or other gleaned from the ground because these have already begun to ferment. All the succeeding phases from storage to washing, crushing and pressing must be undertaken very quickly. Conscientious producers will limit storage of the picked crop to forty-eight hours and perform the separation of leaves from the fruit, the washing and the crushing within two days more. Only cold pressing will do for obtaining really good products - hot pressing yields much greater quantity but severely impairs quality. Oil is extracted from the crushed pulps by centrifuge or vertical presses. An oil qualifies for extra-virgin if the acidity is kept to below one per cent and if no chemical additives of any sort have been used in the production. A good oil must be kept in a dark place at temperatures not above 20C. AREAS OF PRODUCTIONItaly boasts of between 550 and 715 different types of olive trees, among them, in the North and Centre, the Biancheira of the Friuli; Casaliva, Favarol and Grignan of the Veneto, Lombardy e Trenton; Taggiasca of Liguria; Nostrana di Brisighella of Emilia; and Tuscanyeuros rich, fruity Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccino and Pendolino. In the Centre and South, to name a few prominent ones, Rosciola, Sabina, Rotondella, Carpellese, Gentile di Larino, Coratino, Ogliarola, Pizzuta, Carolea, Ottobratica, Biancolilla, Nocellara, Bosana and Tonda of Cagliari. Apulia has the densest concentration of trees and yields forty per cent of Italyeuros oil output, or ten per cent of the worldeuros. Calabria and Sicily, too, are major contributors to this economy.Copyright Le Baccanti Tours 2004-2007 - All rights reserved Do not copy, this site is monitored weekly