Istria is once again adorned with the title of the highest quality region in the world for extra virgin olive oils (EVOO), for the seventh time running in the winning streak.
With a tradition dating over 2000 years, diligent Istrian farmers have preserved many of the peninsula’s unique olive varieties. Istria’s indigenous cultivars are distinguished by their tolerance of lower temperatures, producing highly aromatic, healthful oils with a higher ratio of favorable fatty acids than those from more southerly Europe and the African continent.
Early Greek and Roman manuscripts praised the quality and the refinement of Istrian olive oil, and the oldest olive tree in Istria, located on Brijuni Island, has been proven to be 1600 years old.