Monte Etna DOP - Sicilian Extra Virgin Olive Oil in Hand-Painted Ceramic Jar

A Monte Etna PDO extra virgin olive oil from the volcanic slopes above Bronte, on the eastern flank of Mount Etna, pressed from Nocellara dell'Etna olives grown inside the designated zone. Harvest, extraction and numbered bottling all take place within that zone, under the origin control of Agroqualità S.p.A. on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.

It pours veiled and unfiltered, intense green. The nose is medium-fruity with a clean note of freshly cut grass; the palate opens bitter and pungent and settles on the ripe-tomato finish typical of early-picked Nocellara dell'Etna. This is a finishing oil: pour it raw over pulses and legumes, spoon it across roasted meats, drag warm bread through it.

The jar is a Sicilian orcio, thrown and painted by hand with the prickly-pear (fico d'India) motif in the colours of Etna, so no two pieces are identical. The glazed ceramic is completely opaque, which is what fine oil wants: it keeps the light out, and a natural cork closes it. It stays on the table long after the last drop.

• Type: Extra virgin olive oil, Monte Etna PDO
• Origin: Bronte, slopes of Mount Etna, Sicily
• Cultivar: Nocellara dell'Etna
• Certification: origin control by Agroqualità S.p.A. (Italian Ministry of Agriculture)
• Appearance: veiled and unfiltered, intense green
• Profile: medium fruity · freshly cut grass · bitter and pungent · ripe-tomato finish
• Best for: raw finishing, legumes and pulses, roasted meats, bread
• Vessel: hand-thrown, hand-painted Sicilian ceramic orcio, cork-sealed
• Capacity: 500 ml