THE HISTORY OF OLIVE OIL
The production of olive oil goes back 6000 years. It began in Syria in the Aegean and spread to Asia Minor and from there, Greece and throughout the Mediterranean. The olive tree is important in Greek Mythology as it tells of a dispute between Athena and Poseidon in their struggle to determine who could build their own temple on the Acropolis. Jupiter was named as the judge to decide which one of them could create something which most useful for humans. Poseidon created the horse and Athena created the olive tree. Jupiter judged that the olive tree was more valuable; Athena was therefore declared the winner and was allowed to build her temple on the Acropolis.

Around the 3rd and 4th century BC, the Greeks who had settled in Southern Italy used olive oil. It was not only used as a food but also in medicine and cosmetics. The Romans took on the cultivation and produced oil in large quantities using 15 different varieties of olives. With the collapse of the Roman Empire the cultivation of olive oil suffered many setbacks and it wasn’t until the monastic orders of the Benedictines and Cistercians emerged that the olive trees began to reappear. The olive trees love moist soil but they can grow in very harsh conditions where other fruit trees struggle, but they also need the correct variations of hot and cold temperatures, the Mediterranean climate is most suitable for this. The areas where the best ‘extra virgin’ oil is produced are few and far between. Many oils that are produced are clear, have high acidity or do not smell pleasant therefore must be refined and blended with better oils using chemical processes.

Azienda Agricola San Michele in Teverina, the estate of Santa Maria, which lies in northern Lazio tucked between Umbria and Tuscany, produces oil that may be regarded as one of the best in Italy due mainly to the soil, climate and altitude. There are some new olive groves on the estate that replace the ones damaged by the cold weather of 1986. The groves consist of different grades of olives (Moraiolo, Pendolino, Leccino, Frantoio, Maurino and Canino), which are fertilized by wholly natural organic substances. This allows them to achieve a DOP oil with low acidic content (0,20%).

The olives are collected using traditional methods, that is combing the trees, which avoids injury to the trees and fruit and they are collected in nets laid below the trees. They are then transported in shallow baskets, which are well ventilated and taken to the mill within 24 hours of harvesting thereby preventing early fermentation. The olives are then washed and crushed in a metal cylinder and the resulting paste is passed into a tank with a little water and pressed. The liquid is pumped into another cold, steel container and centrifugal force is used to separate off the wastewater. This oil is collected in 50 litre cans and subsequently used to fill dark glass bottles of cc.500, cc.750 and 5 litre cans.

The residue from the olive kernels is kept and used in burners for heating. The process of producing olive oil takes in total 2 months during which time laboratory testing is carried out, the results of which are written on the labels of the olive oil containers that are for sale.

Recently the publisher Franco Maria Ricci wrote in the Temple newspaper in January 2010 an article comparing Extra Virgin Olive Oils. The olive oil from Castello Santa Maria was awarded four stars and scored amongst the best in Italy.