SIENA (TUSCANY-ITALY) TENUTA LARNIANONE (DO)

This Chianti-district paradise, more than twenty hectares (a hectare is 2.471 acres) of vineyards and olive groves between two Tuscan rivers is the domain of  the venerable Morfini family, two of whom I’ve met. This is our early harvest extra-virgin from Tuscany. It comes from the family groves just five kilometers southwest of Siena where the family grapevines result in the highly regarded Tenuta Larnianone Super-Tuscans. As with these fine wines, this olive oil is typically Tuscan — pronounced grassiness, herb-y, definite green almond, distinct artichoke (if a bland thistle can offer distinction, that is…); early harvest bitterness, the sensation we seek and demand from olive oil. Most expressive is the oil’s spiciness, black pepperiness, with a loud fragrance of herbs and wildflowers. Altogether, a superlative olive oil.