Introducing an Extra Rare olive oil from Tuscany

It's a region that captivates the whole world over. Classic, romantic, beautiful, and one of the most celebrated places on the planet for gastronomy, and in particular—extra virgin olive oil. Meet the family bringing art and precision to the forefront with a stand-out oil that encapsulates true Tuscan provenance.

This summer, I found myself having an all-together magical experience: dining among a group of art lovers in one of the most remarkable hotels in Tuscany as we were playfully serenaded by opera singers.

This was not my normal sourcing trip, but in this Italian region—a rural idyll infused with romantic culture—such a scene is not unusual.

Packed full of expats and Italians alike, Tuscany unites through a shared culture—the Tuscan way of life.

From food and wine to art, Tuscany is known for outstanding quality. It is also famously an olive oil paradise. In fact, EVOO from this historic region has such a high reputation that when we first began sourcing many people assumed this is where we’d start.

While we firmly believe that no one area or variety has a monopoly on quality in the EVOO space, there’s no doubt that Tuscany produces something pretty special.

The natural advantages of land and climate, the varieties, and the region’s economic privileges give it an edge—you’ll find some truly exceptional oils here.

Yet it took me a while get here.

Flavour and nutrition are only half the story. Growing methods, soil health and the producer’s ethos are of equal value to us.

So we waited to find a partner who had it all.

Meet Candice & Fabrizio.

Candice comes from the arts. Fabrizio comes from the land.

She’s dedicated her career to Italian opera and theatre: he has worked on land management and conservation, a life driven by a love of nature.

Their generous hospitality is why I found myself at a banquet dinner for an opera education programme at a boutique hotel surrounded by Tuscan farmland.

When asked, Candice and Fabrizio will tell you they got into olive oil “by mistake”—a similar story another of our other Extra Rare producers, Ana in Alentejo, who also escaped city life and “accidentally” ended up trading it all in to be a full-time farmer.

But they always loved planting trees. So when lockdown happened, they continued planting even more trees on the plot of land they had been building out for the last decade.

Twenty hectares on and many more trees in the ground, they’re now just as excited by the nutritional opportunities of their specific varieties as they are the groves they tend to.

At first, they tended to the classic Tuscan varieties—Frantoio, Leccino, Moraiolo — only more recently experimenting with non-native varieties like Arbequina and Koroneiki, to “play around with blends and flavour” and explore nutritional opportunities.

As we sit on their patio on a hot July morning, Fabrizio speaks of the “infinite source of knowledge” held in the olive trees. Once attuned, he says “you start seeing them everywhere—in poetry, literature, theology, in every aspect of life in the Mediterranean.”

Together, olive growers feel deeply connected to one another through a shared understanding of the “endurance, suffering, and risk” involved in this work. Fabrizio smiles, explaining that growing olives is a life that “naturally selects people who do it for passion, not profit”. This duo could not be a more perfect example.

In producing olive oil, Candice and Fabrizio have melded their values and their work: their EVOO is a product of pure growing artistry and fulfils their environmental ambitions as well.

Discovering the Maremma.

"Etruscans cultivated it; Tuscans civilised it, but only foreigners romanticise it."—The Guardian. 

Although I had visited Tuscany before, I had never really thought of it as a place for beaches.

Driving to the Maremma from Pisa airport throws up the usual vistas that have made this region famous. Lush vines cross with sparkling silver-leafed olive trees as cyprus reach up to the heavens in a landscape dotted with stunning villas.

But then, the sea!

We made our way through a wall of pines and down the grassy dunes onto sugar white sand—a totally stunning coastline. Wait, where are we again? 

From the edge of Candice & Fabrizio’s land, you can actually enter the sea. 

Their farm now thrives on what used to be a salty lake, known to the ancient Romans as “Lacus Prilis”. In 1592, they began draining the lake, a process that would take almost four centuries, ending in the 1960s.

The plains that sit atop this ancient lake now serve as a haven for the new farms in the area and are the bedrock of the trees on this estate.

The intensity of the sea winds, relentless heat, and salty air all contribute to the terroir you experience when you taste their oil. Fabrizio believes that it is this struggle and the stress it puts on the trees that makes the olives “so strong and so powerful.” 

How to use this olive oil

As always, the best way to understand an oil is to get to know it. Put it in a little cup, swirl it around, and have a smell and a sip. (See more on how you should properly taste EVOOs.)

Let the aromas you smell guide you as to what to make with this oil, which sits in our “Extra Rare” range of extra virgins—ready to drizzle and elevate your dishes.

What the oil tastes like...

“It smells of home,” Fabrizio says as we go to take a sip of the oil. He explains the classic expression of Tuscan varieties and their unique profile which has shaped the gastronomy in this region.

“You can already smell the pepper” Candice notes, and right on the nose you’ll get artichoke too, giving it a creamy quality.

On the palate, it’s thick—but without feeling greasy. There’s that pleasant bitterness that defines Tuscan oils, with a balanced peppery hit at the back of the throat.

Candice and Fabrizio’s oils are loaded with polyphenols. So much so that they often have to tame them down by adjusting their farming practices to avoid such intensity of flavour or create too strong an oil.

While polyphenols are incredible for your health, this batch is already well into that high polyphenol range at over 700 mg/kg. As they increase, so does the pepperiness and bitterness, which can lead to something nearly medicinal.

But for their purposes, this oil is here to be pleasing on the palate, not just nutrient-rich. They balance both with the use of precision farming methods and state-of-the-art extraction technology to land on a high phenolic olive oil which they describe as “a gift for your palate and a longevity resource for your body". We couldn’t agree more. 

While some oils lose their punch and fall a little flat as they age, there’s no risk of this with such a bold Tuscan.

How to pair this EVOO...

It’s Tuscany after all, so pasta pasta pasta! 

In the summer, it’s stunning on langoustine or red prawns with lemon—contrasting the sweetness of the seafood (especially when raw) with the spice of the oil. It also delights over a mozzarella salad. 

In the cooler months, this sings over rich bean or chickpea soups.

Fabrizio recommends it with steak florentine and roast beef. 

To get a hit first thing, go with Candice’s breakfast of choice: natural yoghurt with nuts and two tablespoons of their EVOO.

This one is going to pack a punch. Slurp it raw for that antioxidant bomb in the morning, use it in a marinade, or add it to your stews and soups to dial up flavour across the board. 

A beautiful one for the season and one we're so proud to introduce first to our Olive Oil Club with free shipping.