From the groves of Castroreale to the bottle on your table — the things people most want to know about single-origin Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, answered plainly.
Castruriali is made from rare, native Sicilian cultivars grown in the hills of Salemi, Trapani, cold-pressed and hand-bottled by Antonio Mandanici of Castroreale. Every olive is handpicked at its peak, cold-pressed, hand-bottled and quality-checked to lock in freshness and its polyphenol-rich health benefits.
Unlike mass-produced oils, ours is single-origin and small-batch — a pure expression of one landscape, with a rich, peppery, nutty finish. Choosing it also supports our work restoring and protecting these ancient groves for generations to come.
Most olive oils — even premium ones — blend olives from several regions or buy through intermediaries. Castruriali is entirely single-origin, produced from our own Sicilian groves and never blended with other sources.
Because we control every step, from tree to bottle, you get full traceability and the vibrant taste and nutrition unique to our terroir. It's a genuine farm-to-table oil, not a commodity.
Yes. Every step — cultivation in the hills of Salemi, in Trapani, then harvest, cold-pressing and hand-bottling by Antonio Mandanici of Castroreale — takes place in Sicily. Nothing is outsourced or blended in from elsewhere.
It's wonderfully versatile. Drizzle it over salads, grilled vegetables and roasted meats; whisk it into dressings and dips with vinegar, lemon or herbs; use it for sautéing or baking at low-to-medium heat; build marinades for meat, fish or tofu; serve it with fresh bread; or finish soups, stews and pasta right before serving.
You can even enjoy a teaspoon straight from the spoon to appreciate its flavour and benefits in full.
Yes — within reason. Good extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of roughly 190–210°C (375–410°F), comfortably above most home sautéing, roasting and shallow-frying temperatures.
Its high monounsaturated fat content and natural antioxidants actually make it one of the more stable cooking oils. For deep, prolonged frying or to preserve the most delicate polyphenols, save it for finishing and dressing — but everyday cooking is perfectly fine.
As a guide: 1–2 tablespoons to coat a pan for sautéing; about 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or citrus for dressings; a teaspoon or tablespoon to drizzle over a finished dish; and a straight swap, volume for volume, when baking in place of butter or other oils. Adjust to taste — the rich flavour goes a long way.
Beautifully with vinegars (balsamic, red or white wine, cider, sherry), citrus juices, fresh and dried herbs, garlic, chilli flakes, ground spices, sea salts, mustards, a touch of honey or maple, fresh peppers and crumbled cheeses like feta, Parmesan or goat. Experiment — its character lifts almost any combination.
It has a recommended shelf life of 2 years unopened. Bottled in Verdetrusco® green glass to shield it from light and with a low peroxide level, it keeps its freshness even longer when stored well.
Like all extra virgin oils it is freshest young — its polyphenols and flavour gently fade over time, so sooner is always better than later.
In terms of polyphenols and nutrition, yes — extra virgin olive oil is at its most powerful when it is young. But fresher does not always mean better-tasting. Straight from the press the oil is intensely green, pungent and almost medicinal — so strong and peppery that it can overwhelm a dish.
To reach its best flavour, the fresh oil is rested for several weeks in stainless steel tanks before bottling. This lets the rawness settle and the flavour round into balance — keeping the polyphenol-rich benefits while gaining the smooth, harmonious taste you want on the table. It is the same principle as letting a great wine breathe.
Try to finish an opened bottle within about 1–3 months. Once the seal is broken, contact with air slowly oxidises the oil and softens its peppery, fruity character. Keep the cap tightly closed between uses and store it cool and dark to make it last.
Keep it in a cool, dark place away from sunlight, the hob and other heat sources — ideally 15–20°C (59–68°F). Leave it in its original green-glass bottle, which blocks the light that degrades oil, and always reseal the cap tightly. Heat, light and air are the three enemies of good olive oil.
Smell and taste it. Rancid oil smells flat, waxy or like old crayons, putty or stale nuts and tastes greasy rather than fresh and grassy. A musty or vinegary note also signals a fault.
Properly stored and unopened, Castruriali is at its best for up to two years — but trust your nose: fresh extra virgin oil should always smell green and alive.
That's completely normal and actually a good sign. Extra virgin olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, which begin to crystallise and turn cloudy or buttery when chilled below about 7°C.
It does not mean the oil has spoiled — and chilling is not a reliable purity test. Simply let the bottle return to room temperature and it will turn clear and liquid again, completely unharmed.
A little cloudiness or fine sediment is natural in a minimally filtered, freshly pressed oil — it's tiny fragments of olive fruit and pulp, not a defect. Many people consider lightly filtered oils to carry more flavour. Give the bottle a gentle swirl before pouring.
Taste it. A true extra virgin oil should be fruity, with a clear bitterness and a peppery catch at the back of the throat. Those are the marks of live polyphenols — flat, greasy or musty oils are defective.
Read the label. Look for a harvest date (not just a best-before), a single country or estate of origin and dark glass or tin. Genuine extra virgin oil has a free acidity of 0.8% or less and is extracted purely by mechanical means — no heat or chemicals.
Castruriali is bottled in Verdetrusco® green glass with a low peroxide value and you can even watch footage of the very trees your oil came from.
That throat-catching peppery kick comes from oleocanthal, a natural polyphenol found in fresh, high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Researchers found it acts on the body much like ibuprofen, with genuine anti-inflammatory effects (Beauchamp et al., 2005, Nature).
So the cough isn't a flaw — it's a sign the oil is fresh and rich in protective compounds. Tasters even grade oils informally by how many coughs they produce.
It means the oil is extracted by mechanical means alone, with the olive paste kept below 27°C (80°F) throughout — no heat and no solvents. Keeping temperatures low preserves the delicate aromatic compounds, vitamin E and polyphenols that heat would otherwise destroy. Castruriali is cold-extracted within hours of harvest.
Very. It's rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and naturally occurring polyphenols that help protect cells from oxidative stress and reduce inflammation. As the foundation of the Mediterranean diet, extra virgin olive oil is one of the most studied and recommended foods for long-term cardiovascular and metabolic health.
Explore the science on our Health & Wellbeing page.
A tablespoon of olive oil contains roughly 120 calories, almost entirely from fat. But these are predominantly monounsaturated fats, the kind shown to support healthy cholesterol levels.
In the Mediterranean diet, generous use of olive oil is associated with lower, not higher, rates of heart disease and obesity. Quality fat eaten sensibly is part of a healthy diet — not something to fear.
Yes to all three. As a pure oil pressed from olives, it naturally contains no gluten, making it safe for coeliacs and the gluten-sensitive. Our olives are grown without genetically modified organisms and the oil is entirely plant-based.
We don't carry formal organic certification, but we farm with sustainable, natural practices focused on soil health and the wellbeing of the trees. We believe certification can sometimes force inferior compromises, so our commitment is to the highest quality, purity and flavour — without the constraints of the label.
No — and deliberately so. Supermarket oils are usually blended from many sources and harvests to hit a low, uniform price, which sacrifices purity, flavour and the polyphenols that make extra virgin oil worth having.
Castruriali is never blended. By staying outside mass retail we protect the integrity and traceability of every bottle. You'll find it in Castroreale and through our hand-picked retail partners instead.
Through our carefully chosen retail and restaurant partners across the UK and beyond — delis, bakeries and kitchens that share our standards. See them all on our Partners page, or buy direct in Castroreale, Sicily.
We offer standard Royal Mail shipping within the UK, with postage and packaging shown at checkout; a faster tracked service can be chosen if you prefer. International shipping is available to most countries — if yours isn't listed, contact us and we'll do our best to help.
We aim to dispatch within 3 working days, with UK deliveries typically arriving within 5 working days. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Unopened items: return within 14 days of receipt in original packaging (you cover return postage — please contact us first). Damaged or defective items: tell us within 7 days and we'll arrange a replacement or refund.
Because of the nature of food, we generally can't accept returns of opened bottles — but if you're ever unhappy, reach out and we'll make it right. This does not affect your statutory rights.
Yes. We work with select partners who share our commitment to quality and we can arrange bespoke quantities, custom packaging and gifting. Contact us to discuss wholesale pricing, minimum orders or a tailored order and we'll be glad to help.
Every Castruriali order is handled personally. Write to us and a member of the family will reply within two working days.
Email the familyEvery bottle of Castruriali sold funds the restoration of Sicily's neglected olive trees — and the rescue of cultivars on the edge of extinction.
Letters from Castroreale — the harvest, the mill and the trees we are bringing back to life.