RAVNI KOTARI OILS

Oils from Ravni Kotari are extra virgin olive oils with a more piquant and bitter taste and with a minimal amount of acids, which means that the basic healthy ingredients like polyphenols, antioxidants and others, that make olive oil extraordinarily healthy and one of the basics of the Mediterranean diet inscribed onto the UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity, have been preserved. Some of the healthy ingredients of olive oil are unsaturated fatty acids, squalene, carotenoids (beta-carotene and the rest)and sterols, i.e. phytosterols, vitamins A, D, E and K, alfa-linolenic acid, oleuropein, etc.

Desirable qualities of extra virgin olive oil are piquancy, bitterness, taste and the scent of olive fruit, sweetness, the scent of freshly mowed grass and leaves, tomatoes, almonds, artichokes, apples or kiwis. The expressiveness of these flavours depends on the time of the olive harvest and types, on the storage conditions and on the cuvées – the mixtures which help to achieve the balance of these characteristics, and if possible, and depending on the tastes, usage of one-sort oils. The oils with more expressive phenols are stored longer, although a folk saying is: “Drink old wines and young oils!“

The consumption of extra virgin olive oils reduces the risk of heart disease, prevents cancer, strengthens the immune system, improves brain function and creates anti-inflammatory characteristics.

Olive Varieties

• Autochthonous

  • Oblica - autochthonous and most spread in the whole country and in Ravni Kotari across more than 60% of the land and according to the traditional tale, it had been brought here from the Holy Land. It's been here for 2000 years already, it's loved for its size and the name comes from its round shape. Both oil-providing and edible types give even 20% of oil, but, unfortunately, irregularly so the fruitful years compensate for the ones of modest harvest. This variety gives mild and delightful oils. 
  • Istrian Bjelica - autochthonous in Istria and present across the whole Adriatic area. Bears every year, but the fruit is smaller and resistant to ice and diseases. This variety produces medium-bitter and more piquant oil, which means a bigger percentage of polyphenols and antioxidants, the basic olive oil nutritive values.
  • Buža - of bigger oval shape, more vegetal and fruity aroma with milder and subsequent piquancy, suitable for table olives.
  • Drobnica - a domicile variety, which is very present here and produces piquant and more bitter oil partly enriched with fruity flavours.
  • Lastovka - of origin from the central Dalmatian islands, tiny, but with yields up to 20%. It bears regularly, has more expressed bitterness and is rich in phenols. It is therefore known as 'the keeper of the oils'.
  • Levantinka (Šoltanka) - medium size fruit, with yields close to 20% produces tasteful balanced sweetish oil.
  • Krvavica - the black colour with a reddish nuance, bears regularly in medium abundance and produces extraordinarily pleasant bright fruity oils.

• Introduced

  - mostly Italian and Spanish, although with associations to Morocco and the Holy Land
  • Leccino - originally from Tuscany. It is recommended to pick this variety when the fruits are blacker and when it produces extraordinarily fresh oils of fruity scent and milder taste.
  • Pendolino - Italian variety with high bearing and yield. A long flowering period gives it the status of pollinator and it produces beautiful fruity oils.
  • Ascolana Tenera - Italian variety that produces fine mild oils with pleasant bitterness and piquancy.
  • Frantoia - from Tuscany, with a strong scent of grass and vegetable and a more piquant taste.
  • Carolea - of Calabresian origin, medium-sized fruit with a high yield (even up to 25%), suitable for consumption.
  • Itrana - has round medium-sized fruits, high bearing and medium yield and it produces fresh oils with grassy flavours.
  • Pischolino - brought here from Provance, although it is claimed that it originates from Spain and Morocco, too. It produces darker top-quality oils with a strong green olive scent with medium piquancy and bitterness.