The journey of the bottle of Piro Extra Virgin Olive Oil continues as the hand-harvested unripe olives are rushed to the mill and processed within six hours to lock in the freshest flavors.
Once the olives arrive at the mill, they are carefully cleaned in a multi-step process. Branches and leaves are blown away, and the olives are washed in drinkable water, followed by drying under UV light to eliminate any bacteria. This thorough cleaning ensures that the olives are in perfect condition before they are crushed.
Piro uses two crushers—hammer and knife techniques—depending on the type of olive being milled. Each crusher provides a different effect, and the choice is based on the olive variety and the desired outcome. This flexibility ensures that every batch is treated according to its specific needs, preserving the olives' delicate characteristics.
The next step is malaxing, where the olive paste is slowly stirred to allow the evoo to appear: the crushed olives are transferred to the "gramola," where they are kneaded and mixed to facilitate the creation of evoo.. This intricate process can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. At Piro, the malaxing is performed at a precisely controlled low temperature and is constantly monitored by the Frantoiano. The natural enzymes in the olives, known as lipoxygenases, play a vital role in this step, contributing to the formation of key aromatic compounds that define the sensory characteristics of the oil. Rather than relying solely on automated systems, Piro’s artisans fine-tune this process visually, ensuring every batch meets the highest standards.
The magic happened: We have created Extra Virgin Olive Oil ! It is time to separate the new oil from the olive paste using a centrifuge. Here, the attention to detail continues, as Piro’s experts constantly adjust the machines to ensure the highest quality result. No additional water is added to the oil-olive paste mixture to aid centrifugation. Piro’s miller works exclusively with the water naturally present in the olives, ensuring optimal purity.
Once the evoo is separated from the olive paste, the oil is filtered a first time and stored in oxygen-free stainless steel tanks to decant for 2-3 weeks until it will be filtered a second time with our proprietary filtration system, elaborated with the Italian CNR and the University of Florence. This step is paramount to ensure the extreme putty of our oil and the removal of all oxidation factors before our oil is bottled.
