We are very lucky that our friend Ulrich Gerza and his wife Barbara Ungaro (old residents and customers from Primrose Hill) kept in touch when they uprooted to the beautiful Podere Fonte Christiano estate in the Umbrian hills of central Italy.
There, Ulrich and his family press olive oil from the olives that grow naturally on the steep hillsides of their estate – the first cold pressing of which he sells exclusively to us at Melrose and Morgan.
The first bottle arrived to us for tasting a few weeks ago and the full consignment has just landed in our shops, the elegant dark glass bottles concealing the vibrant green oil inside.
Umbria is the only one of Italy’s 20 regions to boast DOP (Denomination of Protected Origin) olive oils. Mountainous and dominated by the Appenines, it is one of the smallest regions and the only Italian region having neither coastline nor common border with other countries.
Whilst there is no proof of this producing anything special, there is a certain romance in the idea of this mountainous, landlocked seclusion concentrating flavour into the olives that grow there.
Certainly Ulrich’s 2011 ‘vintage’ is quite special. The unusual weather conditions in central Italy last summer; a cold dry July, followed by a heat wave in August and an unusually warm dry autumn, resulted in a low yield but very high quality olive harvest. Ulrich pruned his trees to further exacerbate these qualities in the fruit giving his oil an intense but smooth character.
Pablo, our resident Italian (Lazio born and bred, so no regional bias) describes Podere Fonte Christiano as; “A unique olive oil. Gentle at first, then becoming peppery and almost spicy at the end.” He continues; “This is a ‘finishing oil’ not something to cook with – and don’t use strong vinegars, you don’t want to mask its flavour.”
To get the best from this oil, use it at the end of cooking, drizzled on chargrilled meat and fish or to lightly dress salads. Crucially it should be used cold to preserve its delicate flavour and nutrients.
We think it’s best poured liberally onto charred Artisan Bakery sourdough, first rubbed with a little garlic and a few flakes of Cornish Sea Salt.
Podere Fonte Christiano is exclusive to Melrose and Morgan and available at both our stores at £14.95 for 500ml.