Frantoio DOP Extra virgin olive oil

When De Olijfolie Shop started more than twenty years ago, our range certainly did not consist of dozens of olive oils from across Europe. We started small – with three oils we believed in.

This Frantoio DOP from Frantoio Franci was one of them.

Since then, hundreds of oils have been tasted, producers visited, awards won and lost, new discoveries arrived and some eventually disappeared again. But this Tuscan oil remained.

Not because of nostalgia. A product does not get a lifelong place in our range simply because it happened to appear early in our history. It is still here because it is still good enough.

Some olive oils impress for one harvest, win a few awards and then gradually disappear from view. More interesting are producers that maintain a recognisably high level over a long period of time.

For us, Franci clearly belongs to that second group. The style is classically Tuscan and has never tried to chase every trend: green fruit, herbs, bitterness, pepperiness and, above all, balance.

Perhaps that is the greatest compliment we can give this bottle: after more than twenty years and a great many new olive oils, we still think it deserves its place.

Three names that could almost serve as a short summary of classic Tuscan olive oil. In this DOP, Franci brings together Frantoio, Leccino and Moraiolo.

Frantoio contributes much of the aromatic green character. Moraiolo brings more power, bitterness and structure, while Leccino helps make the whole composition rounder and more approachable.

The result is not simply the average of three cultivars. Its strength lies in the composition: expressive enough to be unmistakably Tuscan, yet balanced enough to be used widely at the table.

Anyone used only to very mild olive oils will immediately taste the difference with this Franci. A good Tuscan olive oil does not need to whisper.

The green aromas are followed by bitterness on the tongue and pepperiness towards the throat. These are not rough edges that need smoothing away, but essential parts of the flavour profile.

That combination is precisely what makes this oil so delicious over simple dishes: toasted bread, beans, tomato or grilled meat sometimes need very little else.

Frantoio Franci was founded in 1958 in Montenero d'Orcia, in southern Tuscany. Giorgio Franci later gave the family business an international reputation by combining traditional knowledge with extremely precise modern processing.

Today the house has been one of the major names in the international olive-oil world for many years. Not because of one successful bottle, but through consistently producing several olive oils at a very high level.

For us, that continuity completes the story. Franci was already a producer worth taking seriously more than twenty years ago. It still is today.

One olive-oil medal can be nice, but long-term quality interests us more. Harvests differ. Weather changes. Olives ripen differently every year. That is precisely why repeated success over a long period says so much about a producer.

Frantoio Franci has been one of the internationally respected names for decades. The producer has now appeared nineteen times in the Flos Olei Top 20/Hall of Fame and its top oils have achieved the maximum score in several years.

That does not mean every bottle tastes exactly the same every year. Nor should it. It mainly means that behind this Frantoio DOP is a producer that knows how to turn a changing harvest into another convincing olive oil.

This is not an oil for someone determined to find the gentlest possible extra virgin olive oil. Franci Frantoio DOP has character. Anyone who enjoys green aromas, clear bitterness and a peppery finish will find exactly what makes Tuscan olive oil so appealing.

Frantoio is strongly associated with Tuscany and is known for aromatic oils with green notes, elegance and a clear but refined pepperiness. In this blend it is joined by Leccino and Moraiolo.

Anyone wanting to explore the character of Frantoio further can read much more about this classic Italian cultivar in the Olijfolie Academie.