Today, the Carapelli name is synonymous with quality – Cesira and Costantino’s passion lives on in the company, as do their incredibly high standards. The company still harvests and presses its olives just as it did 125 years ago, using the same traditional production methods. The olives are carefully hand-picked to avoid damage to the fruit, then cleaned and transported in sieves, before being carefully sorted. Only the best olives continue to the next stage, where they are pressed and churned to separate the liquid from the pulp. The liquid then goes into a vacuum centrifuge, which separates the water from the oil by spinning at high speed, before finally being decanted. Every step of the process is designed to preserve the high quality of the olive oil, from hand-picking all the way through to the final decanting.

Once the olive oil has been decanted, it arrives under the expert noses and palates of Carapelli’s master blenders, who take all the different varieties of olive oil and combine them. Carapelli’s mastri oleari treat these olive oils like paints, using them to construct a canvas of flavour. These oleari spend a long time seeking out only the very best olives to turn into oil, which the master blenders then combine to exacting standards in a bid to create some of the most flavourful olive oils in Italy.

Every step of the production process is vital, but they are just one part of what makes Carapelli olive oil truly special. Tuscany is home to many different varieties of olives – the Frantoio olive is the most common and prized for its fruity flavour and long aftertaste, but there are others too, all with different characters. Moraiolo and Coratina olives are pungent, bitter and peppery; Maurino and Leccino olives are mild and delicate; others are grassy or sweet. Tuscan olive oil tends to have a more pungent flavour and aroma than other olive oils; most Tuscan farmers pick their olives early to avoid the threat of winter frosts – as a result, the fruit has a relatively high polyphenol level, which results in that typical peppery flavour.

Each bottle of Carapelli extra virgin olive oil is a meticulously crafted blend of different oils – a balancing act that highlights and combines the best features of each, designed with a specific flavour in mind. For example, Carapelli’s Organic Extra Virgin combines two intensely fruity Tunisian olive varieties – Chemlali and Chetoui – with bitter and spicy Coratina olives to create a well-balanced oil that also boasts pleasant vegetal and green notes. Not only does this blending of oils result in amazing flavour, it’s also consistent; when you buy a bottle of Carapelli olive oil, you know exactly what you’re getting time and time again – the flavour doesn’t change depending on the quality of the harvest, the weather or anything else.

Carapelli’s mastri oleari prove that there’s a certain artistry when it comes to making great olive oil. But this isn’t art for the sake of art – Carapelli’s olive oils have won awards all over the world. In 2018, they scooped a whopping nineteen awards, including two prestigious quality awards at the London International Olive Oil Competitions. Even the bottle itself is tinted to block light from dulling the flavour of the oil, while the cap is hermetic to prevent oxidisation. Every possible aspect is carefully considered and designed to preserve the incredible quality of the liquid gold within. It’s fair to say Cesira and Costantino’s dream of combining Tuscan artistry and olive oil heritage is well and truly alive today; just buy a bottle of Carapelli olive oil and taste it for yourself.