First cold pressing

"First cold pressed" is the official definition for olive oil produced by old fashioned stone wheels and hydraulic press as in the Pornanino olive mill. Olives are slowly crushed by the stone mill so to emphasize the aroma and the sweetness of the Chianti olives. The olive paste is subject to increasingly high pressures to extract the oil, by this method it is not necessary to heat the paste so as to maintain all the organoleptic characteristics and reach the highest quality in the production of extra -virgin olive oil.

Follow the "15 steps to perfection" and discover why your First Cold Pressed Pornanino Extra Virgin Olive Oil is so special!

1. Growing

2. Picking (by hands)

3. Storing (carefully)

4. Washing

5. Crushing (by stones)

6. Spreading (the paste)

7. Piling (the mats)

8. Pressing

9. Separing

10. Green Gold!

11. Bottling

12. Sealing

13. Labelling

14. Packaging

15. Shipping

The First Cold Press process:

• The olives, once harvested, are stored for a maximum of 48 hours laid out in layers not thicker than 10cms in a well aired space. (3)
• The age-old stone oil-mill is a wonderful yet simple machine, wich is still in use wherever oil is made in the traditional way. (4)
• Olives are gently and slowly mashed by a stone wheel (12 rpm) to a thick paste (5)
• Which is spread on mats called "fiscoli" (6)
• That are stacked in 1.80 mt high piles (7)
• The stacks are then pressed for about 45 minutes at 450 atmospheres of pressure (8)
• The liquid coming from the press, called "mosto" contains some water other than olive oil that is eliminated by a mechanical separation process (9)
• Here's our best quality olive oil at last, a nectar so rich, opaque, aromatic and flavoursome that we call it "green gold" (10)
• The "olio nuovo" (new olive oil) is characteristically sharp and pungent, but its strong and distinctive aroma will mellow in time. Since oil should be kept in a dry, well aerated, dark place, it is stored into stainless-steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 15º C - not as picturesque as the earthenware jars of old, but much safer and hygienic