Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Hand-Picked Estates in Italy, Greece and Spain

Good olive oil is one of the few things in a British kitchen that can single-handedly change a meal. A proper cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, drizzled on a plate of tomatoes or over a grilled steak thirty seconds before it reaches the table, is the difference between a dish that is fine and a dish that gets talked about. Supermarket olive oil, by contrast, is rarely fresh, often blended from multiple countries, and frequently months or even years past its best.

vomFASS UK has been importing premium extra virgin olive oil from small, family-run mills since 1994. Every oil on this page is traceable to a specific estate, a specific varietal, and a specific harvest. We buy direct from growers we know by name. We taste every cask before it ships from the mill. Customers collect in our Stamford shop in Lincolnshire or receive free UK delivery on orders over £75. Empty bottles come back to us and get refilled from the cask at a discount, the way wine merchants used to trade before the retail world went plastic and supermarket-first.

What Actually Makes an Extra Virgin Olive Oil Extra Virgin

The label "extra virgin" is tightly regulated in the UK under retained EU food law. To qualify, an olive oil must be extracted from olives using only mechanical means, without heat or chemical solvents, and its free acidity must sit below 0.8 percent. In practice, any oil worth buying is well below that legal ceiling. Our oils range from roughly 0.10 to 0.30 percent free acidity, which is where the flavour and the polyphenol count live.

Three things separate the oils on this page from the £6 bottles at the supermarket:

• First cold press. Every bottle is from the first mechanical pressing, at temperatures below 27 °C, so the natural antioxidants and volatile aroma compounds survive intact.
• Single estate, named varietal. We publish the grower, the region, the olive cultivar and the pressing method. Supermarket private-label oils list "Mediterranean" and nothing else.
• Fresh harvest. Olive oil is not wine. It does not improve with age. The fresher the oil from the mill, the higher the polyphenol content and the brighter the flavour. We turn our stock over deliberately.

The UK Government publishes the full olive oil marketing regulations and inspections guidance, covering acidity limits, cold-extraction standards below 27 °C, organoleptic (sensory) assessment, and the labelling difference between virgin, extra virgin and refined grades.

The Six Oils in Our Extra Virgin Olive Oil Collection

Each of the oils below comes from a specific family mill, a specific olive varietal, and a specific harvest. Six oils is a deliberately small range. Every one has earned its place by tasting notes and by repeat customer orders, not by marketing budget.

Agora Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Crete, Greece

The Agora Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the bottle we recommend first to anyone new to premium olive oil. It comes from a single family farm on the Greek island of Crete, home to some of the oldest olive-growing traditions in the Mediterranean. The varietal is Koroneiki, the small green olive that dominates fine Greek production. The olives are hand-harvested and cold-pressed within hours of picking, which locks in the bright green colour, the peppery finish, and the polyphenol content that gives premium EVOO its health reputation. Use this one as a finishing oil on grilled fish, refined salad dressings, or to give a pasta dish that final drizzle that lifts it from home cooking to proper supper. £23.75 per 250 ml, refillable in our Stamford shop.

San Domenico Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Sicily, Italy

Named after the church next to the oil mill in Castelvetrano, western Sicily, the San Domenico Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a blend of Nocellara del Belice and Cerasuola olives, grown on an organic family farm. It has a pronounced bitter-sharp profile with rich green-olive fruit flavour, the classical Sicilian style. It is the oil to reach for with roasted vegetables, white bean soups, grilled meats, and any dish where you want the olive oil to assert itself rather than hide. £17.25 per 250 ml.

Grand Cru de la Luna Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Sicily, Italy

Of the six, the Grand Cru de la Luna is the one our most particular customers keep coming back for. It is made from organic Nocellara del Belice olives harvested at night in Sicily, a practice that preserves the volatile aromatic compounds that daytime heat drives off. The result is an oil with an unusually complex nose, notes of fresh grass and green tomato, and a long peppery finish that signals high polyphenol content. Pour this over carpaccio, burrata, grilled courgettes or a slow-cooked lamb shoulder. £23.50 per 250 ml.

Santini Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Tuscany, Italy

The Santini Extra Virgin Olive Oil is our unfiltered Tuscan. It uses the classical central-Italian blend of Moraiolo, Pendolino, Frantoio and Leccino olives, the same four varietals that have defined Tuscan cooking oils for centuries. Unfiltered means the oil is bottled with the naturally occurring olive sediment still suspended, which gives it a richer mouth feel and shorter shelf life but a much more expressive flavour. Use Santini for finishing, bread dipping, white bean or ribollita soups, and anywhere the oil is the star rather than the supporting act. £23.95 per 250 ml.

Don Carlos Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Andalusia, Spain

Not every olive oil needs to be a special-occasion bottle. The Don Carlos Extra Virgin Olive Oil is our everyday Spanish, made from organically grown Andalusian olives in southern Spain. It is light- to medium-bodied with grass-fruity notes and a bright peppery finish, versatile enough for daily cooking, salad dressings, marinades, and even baking. If you only want to own one olive oil and use it for everything, this is the one. £17.95 per 500 ml, genuinely everyday value.

Pop-up Pourer

The Pop-up Pourer is a simple accessory that fits the neck of any vomFASS oil or vinegar bottle and controls the pour so you can drizzle rather than glug. £2.75. We include one free with any three-bottle order when you ask at checkout.

Harvest Dates and Polyphenols: The Two Numbers That Matter

Ask any UK olive oil merchant worth their salt what harvest year a bottle is from, and whether they know the polyphenol count, and you will quickly sort the serious sellers from the label-fillers. Both numbers matter, for the same reason: they tell you how fresh and how chemically alive the oil in the bottle is.

The polyphenol content is what gives premium extra virgin olive oil its anti-inflammatory reputation and, measurably, its peppery kick at the back of the throat. Mainstream supermarket EVOO tends to sit around 80 to 200 mg per kilogram. Premium, early-harvest single-estate oils like the ones on this page run from roughly 300 to over 700 mg per kg, depending on varietal and harvest timing. The British Heart Foundation's olive oil guidance explains the heart-health case in full: the polyphenol antioxidants, not simply the monounsaturated fats, are the reason olive oil earned its place in the Mediterranean diet.

Harvest freshness matters for a related reason. The day the olives are pressed, the polyphenols begin a slow decline. Store the oil well and the decline is slow. Store it badly, in clear glass on a sunny shelf, and it is quick. We sell every one of the oils on this page within months of their pressing, keep the casks cool and dark in our Stamford warehouse, and refill into UV-protective dark glass bottles. Ask us at the shop or on the phone and we will tell you the harvest year of any bottle on the shelf.

How to Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil Properly

Two common mistakes even competent home cooks make with premium extra virgin olive oil. First, treating it as a cooking oil at high heat, which cooks the delicate aromatics straight off. Second, treating it as special-occasion-only, which is a waste of a bottle that is perfectly suited to daily cooking once you know its limits.

The smoke point truth

Extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point in the region of 190 to 210 °C, which is more than adequate for most pan frying, sautéing, low-to-medium roasting and gentle baking. It is not suitable for aggressive searing above 220 °C, or for deep frying. For those, switch to one of our seed and nut oils or high-heat cooking blends. For everything else, a proper extra virgin olive oil is a perfectly sensible everyday cooking fat.

Finishing versus cooking

The finishing drizzle is where premium EVOO earns its price. Any oil you pour onto a dish after it has come off the heat delivers maximum aroma and polyphenol benefit because nothing has cooked those compounds away. Our best advice: keep a modest-priced oil like Don Carlos next to the hob for cooking, and reserve the Santini, Grand Cru de la Luna or Agora for finishing at the table.

Storage

Store olive oil in a cool cupboard, away from heat and direct light. Dark glass is better than clear. Keep the cap on between uses. Treat it like a wine you plan to drink within the year, not like a pantry staple that lives for three.

Pairing with vinegars

Olive oil is rarely at its best on its own at the table. Pair it with a proper Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP or one of our authentic balsamic vinegars from Modena for dressings, marinades and bread dipping. For a ready-made combination, the oil and vinegar gift sets bundle complementary bottles that have been matched in our Stamford shop. During barbecue season, our BBQ Favourites collection draws on the same oil range plus flavoured infusions and rubs.

Related Collections

• Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oils: the core estate-bottled range
• Flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oils: infusions with lemon, chilli, garlic, basil and more
• Seed and Nut Oils: walnut, sesame, pistachio and other speciality oils for specific dishes
• All Oils: the full oil range including high-heat and infused cooking oils

Why vomFASS UK Does This Differently: From the Cask, Since 1994

vomFASS began in Germany in 1994 with a single idea borrowed from an older tradition: sell oils, vinegars and spirits straight from the cask, let customers taste before they buy, and let them refill the bottle they already own. No throwaway packaging, no middle-of-the-supply-chain markups, no supermarket-scale compromises on quality. We opened our first UK shop in Stamford, Lincolnshire, bringing the same refill model to British kitchens.

Every extra virgin olive oil on this page is either decanted in our Stamford shop from casks we have imported ourselves, or shipped direct from the mill in the single-estate bottles you see online. Refills in-shop are priced at a discount to new-bottle prices because you are paying for oil rather than for glass. UK delivery is free on orders over £75. Read more about the refill concept and our single-producer sourcing model on our about our products page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Is extra virgin olive oil healthier than other cooking oils?

The evidence for extra virgin olive oil as part of a Mediterranean-style diet is extensive and consistent. It is high in monounsaturated fats and, critically, in polyphenol antioxidants that refined oils have lost during processing. The British Heart Foundation endorses olive oil as part of a heart-healthy eating pattern, noting that its protective effects appear to come primarily from the polyphenol content rather than the monounsaturated fat alone. The health benefit is strongest when the oil is fresh, premium-grade, and used as part of a varied diet that includes vegetables, fish, pulses and whole grains.

Can I cook with extra virgin olive oil, or only use it cold?

You can absolutely cook with it. The smoke point of genuine extra virgin olive oil is roughly 190 to 210 °C, which covers pan frying, sautéing, gentle roasting, baking up to 200 °C, and most everyday UK cooking. It is not suitable for deep frying or high-heat searing above 220 °C. For those, use a neutral high-heat oil and reserve the extra virgin for finishing.

What is the difference between extra virgin, virgin and refined olive oil?

Extra virgin is first cold-pressed, mechanically extracted, with free acidity below 0.8 percent and no defects detectable by a panel taster. Virgin olive oil uses the same mechanical extraction but allows higher acidity up to 2 percent and some minor sensory defects. Refined olive oil has been chemically or thermally processed to remove defects and lowers flavour intensity; it is sometimes sold blended with a small amount of virgin oil as simply "olive oil" on UK shelves. Extra virgin is the only grade that retains the full polyphenol content and aromatic complexity.

How long does extra virgin olive oil last once opened?

Treat extra virgin olive oil like a short-lived fresh product, not a pantry staple. An opened bottle stored correctly keeps its flavour and antioxidant content for roughly two to three months. An unopened bottle stored cool and dark keeps well for twelve to eighteen months from harvest. The fresher, the better.

Can I refill my vomFASS bottle in the Stamford shop?

Yes. Every extra virgin olive oil on this page is available for refill in our Stamford, Lincolnshire shop at a discount to new-bottle prices. Bring your empty vomFASS bottle in, we refill from the cask, and you pay for oil rather than glass. The refill concept has been the vomFASS model since 1994.

Do you deliver olive oil across the UK?

Yes. Free UK delivery on orders over £75. Standard delivery on smaller orders. We ship to all of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Pair these extra virgin olive oils with a fruit-infused Balsamic Star for dressings and drizzles that lift grilled proteins, cheese boards, and desserts.