• varietal to coupage (olive world’s word for blend/cuvee)
• very early harvest (beginning October) to very late harvest (April)
• from the most traditional processing methods to the most modern
• from estates with less than 35 acres to more than 2000 acres of olives
• from low density plantings to super high density plantings
• from $5.99 to $39.99 a bottle
• from <0.1 oleic acidity to 0.7%

• 37,000 BC fossilized olive leaves found on the  Greek Island of Santorini
• 6,000 BC first written records of systematic olive  cultivation, in Syria and Palestine
• 1,600 BC the first olive press, found on the Greek  Island of Crete
• 600 BC the olive tree is first planted in Rome. Later  the Romans mechanized the oil extraxtion process  with the invention of the screw press.
• 4th Century AD, Constantinopole was Emperor and  the City of Rome, itself, had 2,300 oil distributors!
• 1,524 AD the Spaniards bring the olive tree to the  new world – Mexico
• 2,007 AD NCSG Monumental Olive Oil tasting

The word oil comes from the Latin oleum, which comes  from the Greek elaia. The Greeks introduced olive  cultivation to Sicily and then the rest of Italy, which spread  to France and Spain. However, the Spanish word for oil is  Aceite, which comes from the Arabic al-zait (olive juice).  Owing to the Arabic infleunce in Andalucia which lasted  from 711 AD to 1492 AD.

More interesting facts:

• Between 90 to 95% of the world’s olive crop is  dedicated to olive oil production
• 98.5% of the world olive oil crop comes from the  Mediterranenan basin
• Olive oil consumption is <3% of the world’s total  consumption of edible oils and fats  
• Italy consumes 30% of the world olive oil production.
• Greece has the world’s highest per capita  consumption of olive oil – 26.1 litres/year.  Within  Greece, in the Peloponnese, consumption is 35  litres per capita! Followed by Spain 15.0 litres and  Italy 13.5 litre. Canada’s per capita consumption is  0.6 litres/year. The average Greek consumes in  one week what the average Canadian consumes in  one year! Up to 95% of the Crete and the  Peloponnese (Greece) olive oil crop is Extra  Virgin, the highest of any region.
• Spain (stats over last 7 years) produces 38.4% of the worlds total olive oil production, followed by Italy 24.9%,  Greece 14.4%, and Tunisia 5.2%
• Spain is the world’s largest table olive producer, producing 32.2% of the world total, followed by Turkey 10.5%,  and Egypt 8.9%.
• The region of Andalucia produces 80% of Spain’s olive oil crop (this is 30% of the total world production).  Puglia is the largest producer region in Italy producing 40% of Italy’s olive oil production. Tuscany makes only  3% of the total Italian production. Both Crete and the Peloponnese each produce 36% of Greece’s total olive oil  production.
• Interestingly, at the height of the Roman Empire the main producing region was Baetica (Andalucia). Almost  2000 years ago, Pliny the Elder wrote that the best oil in the Empire came from Venafro (Campania). The second  best, was shared by Istria (Peninsula separating Italy and Croatia) and Baetica (Andalucia).