SOILS CHARACTERISTICS
Limestone flakes in laminar arrangement with interleaved clay layers. 80% of the land is covered with stones. Poor soil, very suitable for growing Mediterranean woody species.
Qualification:
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Acidity:
0,1º
Varieties:
Arbequina and Picual.
Origin:
Different fincas of the Plá of Mallorca (Mallorca)
Harvested:
October and November de 2021
Colour:
Green with hints of yellow.
Appearance:
Slightly opalescent which indicates oil is not filtered.
Nose:
Very intense and fresh aromas appear. Green leaves, artichokes, leaves of the carob tree. Fresh cut grass from the edge of the roads and flowers of herbs. Peppermint and mint that clear the
nose giving a feeling of freshness. Mastic and bushes from the Pleta (woody area on the Majorcan estates). Salty breeze and fresh earth.
Palate:
Fluid texture and freshness. Green almond, green grass, with a medium peppery note. Peppermint, mint and pistachio. It is embracing and elegant, with the character and race of the countryside of the Majorcan Plain.
Put a little oil in a transparent stem glass.
Appearance:
Clean filtered (bright), clean decanted (transparent), veiled, veiled-opalescent.
Tonality:
Golden-yellow, yellow, greenish-yellow, yellow-green, green, dark green.
Unctuousness: (moving the glass)
Swill to moisten the walls of the glass.
2. Let it rest for a few seconds.
3. Smell the aromas that emanate from the glass without sticking your nose in.
4. Introduce the nose into the cup (heavier aromas).
Types of aromas:
Green: Citrus, meadow grass, golf greens, vegetables – vegetable garden, green leaves, fig leaves, bitter greens, green wood.
Fruit: Apples, pears, strawberries, bananas, kiwis, lemons, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, green olives, ripe olives.
Vegetable: Tomatoes (plant, green, ripe, cooked), gazpacho, lettuce, green beans, cabbage, watercress, artichokes.
Chemical: Chemist’s, acetone.
Nuts: Almonds, pine nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts.
Aromatic: Spearmint, thyme, rosemary, sage, peppermint, dried herbs.
Mineral: Gas, phosphorus, graphite, gunpowder.
1. Take a sip and pass it all over the surface of the mouth.
2. Let some air pass through the olive oil.
3. Keep it a few seconds at mouth temperature.
4. Swallow it.
Texture:
Watery, fluid, silky, unctuous, oily, rough
Taste:
Fresh, fruity, green, sweet, almondy, bitter, sharp (mouth, throat)
Aftertaste:
Intensity (short/long, flat/voluminous), taste (fresh, fruity, sweet)
In professional olive oil tastings, a small rounded cobalt blue or amber glass is used, which is covered with a watch glass. Before tasting, they are heated in a yoghurt maker at 28 ˚C, so the aromas volatilise. It is smelled in short aspirations, lifting the glass. The colour is not considered important.
This method, which is good for classifying the olive oils by quality, seems inappropriate for a descriptive, hedonistic tasting. We consider the appreciation of appearance and tonality very important to approach the virgin olive oil with pleasure and the logistics should be simpler, so that it can be repeatable anywhere (restaurants, bars, homes, etc.).
We propose a method using transparent glass wine glasses with a wide receptacle to allow the aromas to accumulate and stratify.
The descriptors are collected in families so that the taster can think separately about each of them while tasting (vegetables, fruits, flowers, and so on).
It is not a question of looking for all of them in one oil. We have tried to describe a large number of notes that can be present in the different types of oil found on the market.
With practice, one can identify other hidden olfactory and gustatory registers present in this wonderful product. This can be turned into a fun, educational, entertaining activity for the senses.
