From the moment the harvest ends in our family olive groves in the vicinity of Novigrad, this season it was on October 20th, the new generation of Červar extra virgin olive oils begins its way to your tables and plates. All our olives are processed on the same day they are harvested, so what was still fruit on the branch a few hours earlier becomes young olive oil very quickly after harvesting.
Such oil is still young, so before it goes on the market, we leave it aging for a month after processing and so it can settle in stainless steel tanks, and only after this period we are bottling it. We store the oil filled in bottles for the rest of the year by maintaining the temperature of the storage area at a stable and unchanging 19 degrees Celsius. In this way we ensure that our Červar oils retain the same quality and the same sensory properties throughout the next year.
The enemies of the quality of extra virgin olive oil are large temperature fluctuations and exposure to sunlight, which can lead to unwanted oxidation of the oil. We protect it from the harmful effects of sunlight by keeping it in dark glass bottles and in a dark warehouse, where the temperature, as we have already mentioned, is 19 degrees Celsius all year round. But how can our customers preserve the quality of our oils after they take them home?
At home, olive oil is best stored, for example, in a dark pantry and since it is not practical to maintain the temperature at 19 degrees Celsius in home conditions, it will be sufficient if the oil is stored at so-called room temperature, protected from extreme temperature changes.
In these cold winter days when the temperature often drops below zero, olive oil should never be kept on the balcony or in the garage or in any similar exposure to the cold outside. If the oil is exposed to low temperature, it will crystallize or thicken. If this happens, we can save it by immediately moving it to a room at room temperature: in a day, the oil will become clear or diluted again, but keep in mind that it will last less.
The oil should also be protected from extreme heat, so balconies and garages are out of the question even in summer: the pantry is still the best choice. If the oil accidentally stays for a day at a temperature of 30-35 degrees – it is done, you can throw it away. Let us also note that oil sealed in a bottle under good storage conditions can last up to two years with unchanged properties, but the bottle should be used no later than three months after opening it.
Červar oils are produced and prepared for our customers with great care and love, because we want to preserve in bottles for you all the best that nature gave to our olives that year. By properly storing our oils, every time you use them, you will encounter exactly those aromas and properties that we have prepared for you by caring for our olives, choosing the right moment of harvesting and processing and storing them properly until the moment that the oil is in your hands. By properly storing the oil in your home, you are becoming a partner of the Červar family from Novigrad and the story of our oil in your home experiences the most beautiful gastronomic epilogue.
