At “Villa Igea,” the good news this year is that “Igea oil” has been acknowledged as an “Organic oil” and now carries the official label of registration.

 

Oil, being a natural product, is never quite the same from one year to the next, and so after this year’s harvest, our oil tastes somewhat milder due to the increased rainfall that we had during last summer. Currently, this year’s Igea Oil holds the record for the lowest achieved acidy at 0.25%.

 

Further developments at Igea include that the three experiments that we tested last year were successful, and found instant appeal with customers. We have now included the following varieties to our standard rang: a Pip-less variety, plus Lemon and Peparoni oil. New experimental additions to the range in 2009 are Truffle oil, and Balsamic oil. These varieties are exclusive, appealing to the sophisticated taste. The additional ingredients for these two options are expensive but a culinary delight. Realistically, we have had to adjust the bottle selling price of these two options to cater for this.

 

The reason for this sudden burst of activity is that after several years of experimentation we are taking stock of the lessons learned. 2004, 06, 08 were favourable years for olives, resulting in a plentiful harvest. Given this extra quantity we can now afford to experiment with a few litres and try and create a wider range, which should appeal to a larger clientele.