Olive trees can be grown anywhere in the world with a Mediterranean climate, characterised by mild winters and hot summers with low humidity. Lake Garda has a special microclimate enabling olive trees to grow at a latitude where the climate would normally be too harsh.

The main difference between olive oil and seed oil is the extraction method: the structure of olives enables the oil to be extracted exclusively by mechanical means, whereas seed oil extraction requires the use of solvents (chemicals).
Cavazza extra-virgin oil is extracted using a continuous, two-stage method.

N.B. The  expression  “cold extracted” is optional and restricted to extraction systems that do not exceed a temperature of 27°C. This requirement is now met by almost all continuous extraction plants, including the one used by our company.

Storage: olive oil, like all other animal and vegetable fats, tends to oxidize. The factors accelerating the alteration processes are:

• Heat: the ideal storage temperature is 14-15°C.
  

• Light: the containers must protect the oil from exposure to light, which makes the oil go rancid.

• Oxygen: it causes the rupture of the fatty acids’ double bonds, leading to the formation of compounds that taste unpleasant and make the oil go rancid.

• Water: the containers must be perfectly dry.
  

• Deposition of suspended substances: freshly-extracted oils are turbid due to the presence of suspended colloidal substances. These substances tend to deposit, leaving a muddy sediment, which must be removed by decantation or avoided by filtration.
  That is the reason why our oil is filtered: we think that the quality of the oil deteriorates much more quickly without filtration. And anyway, filtration is a requirement of the DOP Garda label.

The longer the period between the harvesting and processing, the greater the oxidising effect on the olives, giving a clear decline in quality (increase in acidity and peroxides, and loss of polyphenols).
Our olives are always pressed within 24 hours of harvesting.

The important substances which make up olive oil are present in the olives in varying quantities. These substances reach a peak during the ripening stage and then start decreasing. It is therefore essential to pick olives when these substances are at an ideal level. Harvesting time for our olives varies year to year, usually taking place from the last week of October to the first week of December.

There are several hundred varieties in Italy: the same variety in different environments may produce oils with different compositions and organoleptic features.
The DOP Garda Bresciano label guarantees the typicality of Novello Cavazza oil; our cultivars are typical of this territory, and their composition is:

Casaliva and Frantoio (45%)
Leccino (45%)
Pendolino (10%)