5 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:The other one was made from olives harvested in January, quite late. They say they’ve done this in the past for restaurant clients who wanted a milder olive oil for some recipes. The idea of paying a premium for a less flavorful product seems counterintuitive. If I want a milder olive oil flavor in an aioli or dressing, I use part EVOO and part neutral oil like avocado or sunflower. But they had a special if you bought both and I’m always curious. I’d say it tastes rich but without the bite of their regular oils.
I'm going to take issue with the point that milder olive oil is less flavorful. My friends at California's Bariani ranch make an early and late harvest oil, from the same olives. And while the late harvest is "milder," i.e., less bitter, it's still very flavorful. IMHO, the reduced bitterness and bite allows more of the olive flavor to shine through.
At Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard, where some years ago he began growing olives, I encountered the same experience. Well grown olives from well tended trees still produce a very flavorful oil from late harvest, olives. I've had the same experience with Rancho Milagro's oil.
I liken the experience to using late harvest grapes to make various wines. The old Mt. Veeder late harvest zin, for example, produced a symphony in the mouth while, by comparison, the earlier harvested zin came across like an orchestra tuning up: more intense (more noise) but the musicalty was missing.
By diluting a good quality, late harvest olive oil, you may be missing out on the subtleties brought to the table by the aging process. YMMV (and seemingly it does). I tend to go for more subtle flavors rather than strong, hit-you-in-the-face intensity. Different strokes, different folks ... but I urge you to experiment with different late harvest oils. I think some people confuse flavor with intensity.
