Customer Reviews

Roi Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Liguria (250 ml)

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This is the sweetest, as opposed to acidic, olive oil produced commercially in Italy. You may be able to find a more precious olive oil (you know the type, comes in a perfume bottle with a price to match) but you won't find a better "finishing oil" Used mainly to swirl over a dish of Italian food as a gift to the food, it is not primarily a cooking oil (though you could use it as such). Produced by the Ligurian taggiasca olive which grows near the sea along the coast of the Italian Riviera. To a significant degree olive oil is a product of the climate. Greek olives are darker and more acidic and have a stronger "olive" taste, as are sicilian olive oils. Olives are less acidic the milder the climate. French Provençal olives are the sweetest but prohibitively expensive. Choosing olive oil is a tricky business. For instance, Italy sells ore olive oil than it produces. Figure it out. Everything from Spanish olive oil to peanut oils to other stranger Middle Eastern pollutants masquerade as "pure Italian olive oil." (Spain, by the way, is the biggest producer of olive oil in Europe and they make some superb extra virgins). But to my taste, this black labeled ROI is the best. I wish Amazon would carry the 5 liter cans).

Having just returned from Italy and the Ligurian coast, I was anxious to buy some bottles of Ligurian Olive Oil (which I sadly, did not buy and bring home from there). I'm afraid that I was disappointed. This is nice olive oil - very light, but nothing like I had in anywhere in Liguria (or for that matter, Lake Como - for some reason, the restaurants there carried Ligurian Olive Oil - I read labels). If you did not know better, you would be ok with it, I suppose. It is too light and mostly tasteless. The Ligurian Olive Oil that I had all over had a very distinctive and delicious flavor - definitely not something you would cook with but use to put a finishing touch on whatever you were serving. You could almost make a meal out of it. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! I know the Italians like to keep the best for themselves and the production from this particular region is very limited. It is very difficult to find Ligurian Olive Oil in the States. However, I did manage to find a delicious bottle at Whole Foods (which I could return if not satisfied - about the same price as this with no financial risk). I don't know if the more expensive ROI would be better, but it may not be worth the experiment.