Olive oil in Montreal?

[lambretta76]

If there are Spanish stores in Montreal, I would highly recommend Nunez de Prado from Spain. I especially like their unfiltered version - an amazing complexity with lots of citrus notes. It's about 6 euros per 500 mL in Spain, and about $15-$20 here in the US.

Again, I wouldn't use this for cooking - I like Zoe organic for that. But it's great for dipping - one of my favorites is a bowl of this with a squirt of Moroccan harissa in the middle - great for sopping with good crusty bread.

[jfl91]

Nunez sell here (almost everywhere) for 22 to 26$cdn for the 500ml clear bottle. The opaque bottle sell for about 30-35$.

I like Nunez but I am not a big fan of Spanish oil. I like it when you get more the taste of the olive and a nice pepery retro that kick.

[Vinfidel]

do we get Davero here?

[Olive Oil King]

I find the best olive oil is from Greece and available in Montreal for much less than $250US/lt!!! Even 20$/lt is crazy....try Irini Extra VIrgin or Solon Extra Virgin olive oils availabe in these places!!!

Irini- Loblaws, Provigo, IGA, and other little shops

Actually Solon Extra Virgin this week is in Costco on coupon...I stalked up...recomend you guys do too...4$ off a gallon...crazy!!!

Trust me for the price...wont find better!!!

[Lesley C]

I just got my hands on a bottle of Carole Bouquet olive oil from Sicily for a whopping $35/100 ml.

Nice packaging, but for that price I want Bouquet to call me at home and thank me for buying it! And maybe even supply a recipe.

Expensive, but it would make a nice Christmas present. Don't ask me what it tastes like,though. I'm too afraid to crack open the bottle!

[identifiler]

I am lucky to receive a Nikolakakis private import monthly. It arrives from air canada cargo to my door in an old recycled wine bottle. When this gold walks through my door, I usually treat it with the most respect (as one would witha 500$ bottle, I guess)

Last week, the fresh batch went on a bed of sel de guerande, organic heirloom russian black and yellow cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozz, fresh herbs, organic heirloom french citrus cucumber. All ingredients rolled from my garden to the plate in 15 minutes. No resto can match that in my view.

Do not look for the Nikolakakis private import, as it arrives from a private greek island orchid and is distributed to local family friends.

Cost: the cheeze

Taste: "priceless"...

[Olive Oil King]

I still believe that no olive oil is as good as 9$/750ml Irini from Greece...If I were to spend crazy money, I would rather spend it on a good bottle of wine rather than an expensively packaged and priced olive oil!!!

What next??? Louis Vitton bottled olive oil???

[Lesley C]

Wouldn't be surprised.

I hear Sting is coming out with one soon (no kidding), from his Tuscan estate.

[Olive Oil King]

Sting...lol I guess its been a while since he made an album, needs a new source of income!

I would still rather see a Louis Vuitton though!

[jbbank]

I might be interested to buy some Manni as well, to satisfy my curiosity. Honestly, I have no idea how good that stuff is or even whether it's worth it. But if others are interested, maybe I could split an order (for those that can pick up locally) so that I could buy 10 bottles, and share the costs depending on how many bottles you want. I'm interested in 4 bottles myself.

I have no intention in making money out of this; I only want to try this "famed" oil.

I am freaking out that it's almost impossible to find some well renowed olive oils in Montreal (I mean the brand I want to find).

Armando Manni, Grace Family Vineyards, Araujo Estate, Prunatelli just for exemple are impossible to find here.

I order by internet Armando Manni oils since 3 years already but this is really boring since you have to buy a minimum of 10 bottles per order.

Some other oils are just to difficult to order by internet.

Do you know some private importers?

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Edited September 26, 2005 by jbbank (log)

[jfl91]

jbbank, if you can wait 1 month I will be able to sell you 4 bottles.

I will receive 20 bottles the first week of November.

Also, wich one you want? The Per me or Per me figlio?

I used to order 2 Per me Figlio out of 10 bottles but now I order only Per me.

[jbbank]

That would be great! I would prefer not to order if I didn't have to. I'm not sure which one I would want. What is the difference between the two in terms of taste?

jbbank, if you can wait 1 month I will be able to sell you 4 bottles.

I will receive 20 bottles the first week of November.

Also, wich one you want?  The Per me or Per me figlio?

I used to order 2 Per me Figlio out of 10 bottles but now I order only Per me.

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[jfl91]

The Per Me is more powerfull than the Per Mio Figlio.

[Vinfidel]

So JFL in the end how much is one bottle canadian?

[jfl91]

325$cdn for a liter.

Armando is such a nice guy, really friendly and ready to talk about his oil.

If you want to learn a bit more about his oil, here is his web-site:

http://www.manni.biz/

[gus_tatory]

$375/L of olive oil? What a joke...

Montrealers aren't too poor to buy this oil. They're too smart.

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Lesley C has it right. 375$ for a 1l bottle of olive oil?

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i have to apologize for my little outburst back there that someone would spend 375$ a litre for olive oil. sorry.

as soon as i did the math, and realized i'd spend 37.50$ for 100 ml of the stuff... and ten times that is a litre...

in any case, back to the olive oil talk...

[jfl91]

For all of you interested in buying some Armando Manni oil, La Fromagerie Yannick (the Bernard address also) will sell it for the holidays (I think they will start selling it in mid-november).

[Tom Gandey]

$375/L of olive oil? What a joke. What are the olives gathered by Brad Pitt, the oil made by Elle McPherson and bottled by the Queen? Even if I had the money -- which I don't -- I would never drop that much on olive oil. Jesus.

Montrealers aren't too poor to buy this oil. They're too smart.

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People buy it because it is the best. Just as people buy Ferraris, Romanee-Conti and Hermes. Money is not an end, only a currency to trade for the things you cherish most in life.

You claim to love food, but yet you say Montrealers are "too smart" to buy this oil. Some buy it because than can, others buy it because its worth it for an indulgence and others like yourself are bitter because they cannot afford to taste perhaps the best olive oil on earth.

The only joke here is berating someone for buying something they can afford and enjoy.

Edited October 20, 2005 by Tom Gandey (log)

[Tom Gandey]

$375/L of olive oil? What a joke...

Montrealers aren't too poor to buy this oil. They're too smart.

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Lesley C has it right. 375$ for a 1l bottle of olive oil?

even if it *is* the best in the world, i'm sorry, but your priorities in life are really messed up if you spend 375$ for a litre of olive oil.

how much do you give to Amnesty International, the SPCA, and/or Habitat for Humanity yearly, for example, just for starters?

there's wonderful indulgence and enjoying the best of the best, and then on the other hand, there's just show-offy, snobby one-upmanship. i'm afraid i think this oil at this price falls into the latter category.

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You don't think there are tens of thousands of Canadians that can afford Manni *and* give 10x their Manni budget to charitable causes?

Taste it and then make up your mind, until then... well, you know.

[gus_tatory]

Taste it and then make up your mind, until then...  well, you know.

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ok, my friend: look back three posts and you'll see me apologizing for my outburst, eating humble pie, realizing i have spent that much in smaller increments.

[Lesley C]

You know Tom, I don't really give a stuff what you think and I find it interesting that you assume that I can't afford things when in fact it's a case of chosing not to buy rather than not being able to buy. Big difference.

The reason I would hesitate to buy such costly oil is that there are so many good ones for less that are still considered expensive. Also, in cases like this, my thought is that there are a few middle men getting rich in the process.

Buy what you want. Bathe in the stuff. Massage your feet with it. Toss it down the drain. Fry French fries with it. I don't care. But I don't see the need for such extravagance, and I'm already a pretty extravagant food shopper.

[jfl91]

Lesley, I am not gonna defend Tom because I think me too that Manni oil is very expensive. But if you can afford it and it's not something of a big deal to give 400$ for a liter of olive oil for some people, why not?

I buy Armando Manni oil since 3 years already and the man is just doing everything to have the best oil available. He is working harder than anybody else in this business and his oils reflect his efforts.

When I gave a bottle to Yannick Fromagerie people, they asked me to order some for them right away. If you like the ''style'' of this oil, it's just the best ever! The pepperiness that kick in your throat for so long and the aromas of fruit and olive is so intense and balanced, it's just perfect! This oil is extravagant and should be try at least one time.

[Tom Gandey]

You know Tom, I don't really give a stuff what you think and I find it interesting that you assume that I can't afford things when in fact it's a case of chosing not to buy rather than not being able to buy. Big difference.

The reason I would hesitate to buy such costly oil is that there are so many good ones for less that are still considered expensive. Also, in cases like this, my thought is that there are a few middle men getting rich in the process.

Buy what you want. Bathe in the stuff. Massage your feet with it. Toss it down the drain. Fry French fries with it. I don't care. But I don't see the need for such extravagance, and I'm already a pretty extravagant food shopper.

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To quote you:

"Even if I had the money -- which I don't -- I would never drop that much on olive oil."

"Montrealers aren't too poor to buy this oil. They're too smart."

I never said you couldn't afford it, YOU DID. You also have made a decision its not worth the $$$ without even trying it, which is short sighted.

There are MANY good ones for less, some ALOT less, but that isn't the point... it is not about NEED, it is about WANT. Manni has their niche, which is the ultra high end and there are enough customers of means (or those that occassionally indulge) to support him. If his product wasn't as good as it is, he couldn't command the prices he does.

I find it interesting that jfl91 is defending the very person that inferred he was stupid by buying Manni, to each their own. People WILL buy what they want, they don't need you telling something isn't worth the money (when you have never even tasted it!), as that is for them to decide.

[Vinfidel]

tom the issue here is that again like always some die hard montrealais are getting angry that there are people spending so much money on olive oil and calling them stupid and wasteful and crazy

the funny thing is that many of the food and wine lovers i know are not rich but they will save their money for a year to buy one bottle of latour and enjoy every minute of it. should we condem them no i think we should be happy because they are happy. some people can afford to drink latour only as a chaser to clear the palate for the petrus and for these people we cannot condem them only be happy for their good fortune

from her colums we can see that lesley is already a big spender for food even tho it is her professional to do it so maybe it is just the case that she doesnt like the xtreme spending that manni represents

i think we should do an event so that everyone can taste this olive oil for only a small fee to cover the costs. like that we can all learn if it is 'worth it' or not without a big brouhaha about the price and money. i will be very happy to contribute some fine wines to this event. what do you say

[Tom Gandey]

tom the issue here is that again like always some die hard montrealais are getting angry that there are people spending so much money on olive oil and calling them stupid and wasteful and crazy

the funny thing is that many of the food and wine lovers i know are not rich but they will save their money for a year to buy one bottle of latour and enjoy every minute of it. should we condem them no i think we should be happy because they are happy. some people can afford to drink latour only as a chaser to clear the palate for the petrus and for these people we cannot condem them only be happy for their good fortune

from her colums we can see that lesley is already a big spender for food even tho it is her professional to do it so maybe it is just the case that she doesnt like the xtreme spending that manni represents

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You are absolutely correct and that was the point I am trying to make. I used to be of very modest means and would save for special ingredients/meals/bottles to indulge every now and again. In recent years, money has become much less of an issue allowing me to be not only more indulgent, but to share my good fortune by sharing great experiences with my friends.

Whether she thinks Manni is worth the money or not, it is NOT her place as a supposedly objective journalist to make a subjective assessment about a product she has never consumed, or subjective assessment about those who consume said product.