Everything you
might ask.Tutto quello che
potreste chiedere.

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.

"Extra virgin" is the highest grade of olive oil — but the legal definition is far lower than most people assume. To qualify, an oil must have a free acidity of 0.8% or less and be produced purely by mechanical means, with no heat, solvents or refining. Meet those numbers on a lab test and you can legally print "extra virgin" on the label.

The problem is that acidity can be corrected after a poor harvest, and regulatory testing is inconsistent across markets. An oil can pass as extra virgin while tasting flat, greasy or dull — because the polyphenols, aromatics and live flavour compounds that define a genuinely fresh oil have already degraded.

True extra virgin olive oil — the kind that makes you catch your breath from its peppery finish — comes from olives pressed within hours of harvest, at their ideal ripeness, without heat or compromise. The flavour tells you everything the label cannot. Most oils sold as extra virgin in supermarkets technically meet the legal requirement. Very few are genuinely fresh, traceable and pressing-fresh in the way the name implies.

Castruriali is produced from native Sicilian olive cultivars — ancient varieties unique to the island and ideally suited to its volcanic soils, dry summers and warm coastal climate. These cultivars carry flavour profiles and polyphenol concentrations you simply cannot replicate with generic or imported varieties.

The specific blend reflects the groves around Castroreale selected by Antonio Mandanici, our master producer, each harvest season. The result is consistent in character — richly fruity, intensely peppery, unmistakably Sicilian — while carrying the natural variation of a genuine single-origin product.

Every step of production takes place in Sicily. Our olives are grown in the hills of north-east Sicily and pressed at Oleificio Mandanici, the family mill in Castroreale, in the Peloritani mountains above the Tyrrhenian coast. Castroreale is one of Sicily's most ancient hilltop towns, with an olive-growing tradition stretching back thousands of years.

The oil is cold-extracted on-site, rested in stainless steel tanks and bottled by hand. Nothing leaves Sicily until it is in the bottle.

Castruriali is unfiltered. We believe that minimal intervention produces the most expressive, nutritionally complete oil — and that the fine natural particles of olive fruit left in an unfiltered oil carry additional flavour and character.

You may notice a fine natural sediment at the bottom of the bottle or occasional cloudiness, particularly after the bottle has been still for a while. This is entirely normal and a positive sign of a genuinely artisanal, minimally processed product. Give the bottle a gentle swirl before pouring.

Free acidity measures how much of the fatty acid structure in the oil has broken down — the higher the number, the more the oil has degraded through damaged olives, delays before pressing or poor handling. Extra virgin olive oil must be below 0.8% by law, but premium oils are typically far lower.

Castruriali has a free acidity well below that threshold — a direct result of harvesting at the right moment and pressing within hours. Lower acidity means a fresher, more stable oil with more of the polyphenols and natural compounds intact. It also means a cleaner, less greasy flavour in the glass.

Polyphenols are natural plant compounds found in abundance in freshly pressed, high-quality extra virgin olive oil. They are the source of that characteristic peppery catch at the back of the throat — and what makes a genuinely premium oil so different from a refined or processed one.

Research has consistently linked high-polyphenol olive oil to reduced inflammation, improved cardiovascular health, protection against oxidative stress and potential neuroprotective effects. The EU permits health claims specifically for oils providing 5 mg or more of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g — a standard many commercial oils cannot meet.

Polyphenol levels decline with heat, light, air and time. Early harvesting, rapid cold extraction, dark glass bottling and using the oil while fresh all preserve them. Castruriali's vivid green colour and bold, peppery finish are the most reliable signs that the polyphenols are alive and present in the bottle.

Within hours — and this is one of the most important differences between a genuine artisan oil and a mass-produced one.

Once an olive is harvested, oxidation begins immediately. Olives left overnight before pressing accumulate acidity and lose the delicate polyphenols and aromatic compounds that define a great oil. At Oleificio Mandanici, olives harvested each morning are pressed the same day. That speed is a significant part of what you taste in the finished bottle.

Yes — and this is one of the things we find most compelling about single-origin oil. Like wine from a single estate, Castruriali reflects its growing season: the rainfall that spring, the heat of the summer, the timing of the harvest. No two years are identical.

In terms of flavour trajectory, a freshly pressed oil is at its most intense and vivid immediately after harvest. Over the following months it rounds and softens, typically reaching its flavour peak somewhere between one and two years after pressing — our sweet spot. After that the polyphenols gradually fade and the oil mellows, remaining pleasant but losing some of its character. This is why we always recommend enjoying it within a year of purchase and not hoarding it.

Because the things that make it genuinely good are expensive to do.

Mass-produced olive oil is blended from olives sourced across multiple countries, harvested by machine, pressed in bulk and bottled into clear glass or plastic. The goal is a consistent, neutral product at the lowest possible price — it meets the legal minimum for "extra virgin" but often little more.

Castruriali is handpicked from a single Sicilian estate, cold-extracted within hours of harvest, bottled in light-blocking Verdetrusco® green glass with a tamper-evident anti-refill seal, and produced in a limited quantity each year. Nothing is blended in, diluted or compromised. The price reflects the actual cost of making an oil that is genuinely this good — and the difference is immediately apparent when you taste it.

Sicily's combination of ancient volcanic soils, intense sunshine, dry summers and maritime winds creates growing conditions that produce olives of exceptional character. The island is home to some of the oldest olive cultivars in the Mediterranean — varieties that have adapted over centuries to each hillside and valley.

Sicilian oils tend to be bolder, more peppery and more intensely fruity than those from other Italian regions, with naturally high polyphenol levels driven by the stress the trees endure through the long, dry Sicilian summer. That stress — counterintuitively — is what produces such concentrated, flavourful, nutritionally potent fruit.

Sicily is also where olive cultivation in Italy began. The trees here carry millennia of history in their roots.

A significant one — they are not interchangeable.

Extra virgin olive oil is produced by crushing fresh olives and extracting the oil purely by mechanical means, without heat or chemicals. It must have a free acidity of 0.8% or less and no taste defects. It retains its natural polyphenols, vitamins, aromatics and colour.

Olive oil (sometimes labelled "pure olive oil") is a blend of refined olive oil — extracted using heat and solvents from lower-grade olives or spent olive paste — mixed with a small amount of extra virgin oil to restore colour and some flavour. The refining process destroys most of the polyphenols, vitamins and natural compounds. It is a processed, largely neutral product.

For flavour, nutrition and authenticity, extra virgin olive oil is the only one worth using.

The harvest information is printed on every bottle of Castruriali so you know exactly what you are buying. If you have a specific question about the current batch — the harvest date, the cultivar selection or the tasting notes for this year's pressing — contact us at sales@castruriali.com and we'll be glad to share the details.

A significant one. The soils around Castroreale are ancient and mineral-rich, shaped over millennia by the volcanic geology of north-east Sicily and the Peloritani mountains. This gives the trees access to a complex palette of trace minerals — iron, potassium, magnesium and others — that directly influence the character of the fruit they produce.

Volcanic soils tend to be free-draining, which stresses the olive tree in a productive way: the roots are forced to dig deep to find water, which concentrates the flavour compounds and polyphenols in each olive. The same principle applies to great wine — vines and olives grown on difficult, mineral-rich ground produce smaller yields of far more expressive fruit than those grown on rich, easy soil.

The result in the bottle is an oil with a depth and complexity that is difficult to replicate elsewhere. The particular minerality of the Sicilian volcanic landscape is part of what makes Castruriali taste unmistakably of where it comes from.

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.

Yes. Extra virgin olive oil has a smoke point of around 190–210°C — well above the typical home frying temperature of 160–180°C. More importantly, its high monounsaturated fat content and natural antioxidants make it one of the most stable cooking oils when heated, producing fewer harmful compounds than many refined vegetable oils at the same temperature.

For everyday pan-frying and shallow frying, Castruriali is well suited. For prolonged deep frying at very high temperatures, a more neutral oil is more economical — and saves your best oil for where its flavour matters most. But the idea that you should not fry with extra virgin olive oil is a myth.

Absolutely — and we actively encourage it. Olive oil and sweet things are a classic Sicilian pairing, and the contrast of a bold, peppery oil against something sweet and rich is genuinely remarkable.

Try a thread of Castruriali over vanilla ice cream, fresh ricotta with warm honey, panna cotta, a slice of dark chocolate cake or a fig tart. The bitterness and pepper cut through the sweetness in a way that is hard to describe but immediately makes sense once you try it. It also works stirred into yoghurt with fruit, or alongside warm bread and good honey.

Our recipe Ricotta, Miele e Olio — ricotta, warm honey and a thread of oil — is the simplest possible demonstration of this.

Most nutritional guidance and the Mediterranean diet framework suggests 2–4 tablespoons (30–60 ml) of extra virgin olive oil per day as part of a balanced diet. The landmark PREDIMED study, tracking cardiovascular outcomes over several years, used around 4 tablespoons per day for participants in the olive oil supplemented group.

Used as your default cooking fat, dressing base and finishing oil, 2–4 tablespoons happens naturally in a kitchen where olive oil replaces butter and vegetable oil. There is no need to measure — simply use it generously and the intake tends to follow.

Yes — extra virgin olive oil is one of the most recommended fats for children and is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet from weaning onwards. It provides essential monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and polyphenols important for healthy development.

Many paediatric nutritionists recommend introducing it early: stirred into baby purées, used freely in family cooking or drizzled over vegetables. Its bold flavour can also help children develop an adventurous palate from an early age.

In moderation, yes — extra virgin olive oil is widely used as a supplement for dogs and cats, typically to support coat condition, digestion and joint health. A small amount (around half a teaspoon for small dogs, up to a tablespoon for larger breeds) is the usual guidance.

That said, we'd always recommend checking with your vet before making it a regular part of your pet's diet, particularly if your animal has any existing health conditions. And as with any rich ingredient — start small.

Yes — olive oil is an excellent substitute for butter or vegetable oil in baking. It produces a moist, tender crumb and keeps baked goods fresher for longer.

As a general rule, replace butter with 75% of its volume in olive oil (100 g butter becomes roughly 75 ml oil). For recipes calling for vegetable or sunflower oil, swap 1:1.

It works particularly well in cakes, muffins, quick breads, focaccia and brownies. For delicately flavoured bakes, a mild finishing-style oil is ideal — save the most peppery, assertive bottles for savoury cooking, where that character adds something.

Our bottles are sealed with an anti-refill cap — a tamper-evident valve that prevents the bottle from being opened, refilled with inferior oil and resealed. It's a quality guarantee you can feel.

When you first open the bottle, the valve needs a little encouragement. Give the bottle a firm, short shake downward — one or two quick flicks — and the valve will open and flow freely from that point on. After the first use it pours normally. If it still resists, try tilting the bottle at a slight angle and shaking again.

Yes — extra virgin olive oil has been used as a skincare ingredient for thousands of years, and a high-quality oil like Castruriali is well suited to it. Its vitamin E, squalene and natural antioxidants make it genuinely nourishing.

It works well as a body moisturiser, a cuticle and nail treatment, a lip conditioner, a light hair mask for dry ends, or mixed with sugar or sea salt as a gentle exfoliating scrub. It is also popular as a natural make-up remover.

It is rich and occlusive, so a little goes a long way — and those with oily or acne-prone skin may prefer to use it sparingly or on the body rather than the face. But for most skin types it is a beautifully simple, natural alternative to synthetic products.

Olive oil butter — sometimes called whipped olive oil — is a wonderful, dairy-free alternative that is silky, spreadable and far better for you than regular butter. It is surprisingly easy to make at home.

Basic method: pour 240 ml of Castruriali extra virgin olive oil into a bowl or jug and place it in the freezer for around 30–45 minutes, until it is semi-solid and cloudy but not fully frozen. Transfer it to a mixer or use a hand whisk and beat vigorously for 3–5 minutes until it lightens in colour and takes on a creamy, spreadable consistency.

Add a small pinch of flaked sea salt and, if you like, a little fresh thyme or crushed garlic. Spoon into a ramekin and refrigerate until firm — it will set to a butter-like texture within an hour. It keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Spread it on warm bread, use it to finish pasta or vegetables, or serve it at the table just as you would butter. The flavour of a good oil really shines through.

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.

No — and it is one of the most common ways people accidentally ruin a good oil. Heat is one of olive oil's three main enemies (alongside light and air). A bottle sitting near a hob or oven is exposed to repeated warmth every time you cook, gradually degrading the oil and hastening oxidation.

Store your oil in a cool, dark cupboard away from the hob — a pantry shelf, a low kitchen cupboard or even a drawer. Bring it out when you need it, then return it. That one habit makes a meaningful difference to how long it stays at its best.

Fridge: you can refrigerate olive oil and it will keep very well — the cold slows oxidation and extends freshness. The oil will turn cloudy or semi-solid in the fridge, which is completely normal and harmless. Simply remove it 20–30 minutes before use and it will return to its liquid state. This is actually a good habit if you use your oil slowly.

Freezer: olive oil freezes well too. It solidifies into a pale, waxy solid and keeps for up to a year without any loss of quality. Freeze it in an ice cube tray for convenient single-use portions — each cube is roughly one tablespoon. Defrost at room temperature or drop a cube directly into a warm pan.

Neither method harms the oil's flavour or nutritional properties — though the fridge is the more practical everyday option.

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.

The colour of an extra virgin olive oil tells you something important about when the olives were harvested.

Green oil comes from an early harvest — olives picked in October or November, before they are fully ripe. Early-harvest oil is intensely grassy and peppery, with a bold, almost pungent character and very high polyphenol levels. It is the most nutritionally potent and robust in flavour.

Golden oil comes from a late harvest — olives left on the tree until December or later, when they are fully ripe and dark. Late-harvest oil is softer, rounder and milder in taste, with a buttery or fruity character but lower polyphenol content.

Castruriali is harvested early to preserve the highest level of polyphenols and that distinctive peppery finish that marks a genuinely fresh, premium oil. The vivid green colour you see in the bottle is a natural sign of that early pressing.

It is also worth knowing that colour naturally shifts within a single batch over time. A freshly pressed oil is vivid green — reflecting high chlorophyll content immediately after harvest. Over the following weeks and months, as the chlorophyll gradually breaks down, that same oil slowly transitions from bright green towards golden. This is completely normal and not a sign of any deterioration in quality. Our own oil has gone through exactly this change: deeply green when it left the press, warmer and more golden as it has settled. The flavour evolves too, softening and rounding — though a gentle decline in polyphenol levels over time is natural in any extra virgin oil, and another reason to enjoy it while it is young.

These terms are often used interchangeably but they describe slightly different processes.

Cold-pressed is the traditional term, referring to oil extracted by pressing the olive paste under a mechanical press, with the temperature kept below 27°C. It describes the old method of using stone millstones and hydraulic presses.

Cold-extracted is the more accurate term for modern production. Today, most quality mills — including ours — use a centrifuge (malaxer and decanter) rather than a press. The olive paste is spun at high speed to separate the oil from the water and solids, again with the temperature kept below 27°C throughout.

Both methods produce genuine extra virgin olive oil without heat or solvents. Cold-extracted is technically more precise for modern mills, but both terms on a label are a sign the producer is serious about quality. Castruriali is cold-extracted within hours of harvest.

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.

Yes — we ship to most countries worldwide. International shipping rates and delivery times are calculated at checkout based on your location. If your country doesn't appear as an option, please contact us directly and we'll do our best to arrange delivery. Please note that import duties or customs charges may apply depending on your country and are the responsibility of the recipient.

Absolutely — and we actively encourage it. There is nothing quite like tasting the oil in the hills where it was made. Our estate and Oleificio Mandanici, the family mill in Castroreale, welcome visitors who want to see where Castruriali begins.

Whether you'd like to walk the groves, watch the pressing process or simply sit in the Sicilian countryside with a bottle and some bread, reach out to us at sales@castruriali.com and we'll arrange something memorable.

We offer free standard UK delivery on qualifying orders — the current threshold is shown at checkout. Orders below that attract a standard Royal Mail postage charge, calculated at checkout based on order weight. For international orders, shipping rates vary by destination and are displayed before you complete your purchase.

Yes — and it makes a genuinely distinctive one. Our bottles are packed securely to protect against breakage in transit, and we take care to ensure every order arrives beautifully. Simply enter the recipient's address at checkout.

If you'd like something more personal — a gift message, bespoke packaging or a larger corporate gift order — contact us at sales@castruriali.com and we'll make it special.

Yes. We dispatch using Royal Mail Tracked services and you'll receive a tracking number by email as soon as your order is on its way. Royal Mail will send you updates directly so you can follow your delivery in real time.

If you haven't received a tracking email within 3 working days of ordering, please check your junk folder first — and if it's not there, contact us and we'll look into it straightaway.

Yes — our Subscribe & Save option lets you have Castruriali delivered automatically on a schedule that suits you, at a discounted price. Choose your frequency, set it once, and never run out. You can pause, change or cancel at any time from your account.

See the subscription options on our shop page.

Yes — sustainability is central to how we farm and how we think about the future of these groves. Our trees grow in the traditional Sicilian style: widely spaced, mostly dry-farmed and tended by hand. This is a system that has sustained these hillsides for centuries without depleting the soil.

We do not use synthetic pesticides or herbicides. Our restoration work — rehabilitating neglected and abandoned groves — actively increases the number of trees in productive cultivation rather than clearing new land. Every bottle sold contributes directly to that work.

No. We do not use synthetic pesticides or herbicides on our groves. Our farming approach relies on the natural, traditional methods of pest management and soil care that have sustained these trees for generations — methods that work with the landscape rather than against it.

Yes. Our bottles are made from Verdetrusco® green glass, which is fully recyclable. The cardboard we use for shipping is also recyclable. We are continually looking at ways to reduce packaging and improve the sustainability of how we get the oil from Sicily to your door.

The groves are tended year-round. Winter brings pruning — shaping the trees and encouraging the following season's growth. Spring involves soil management and preparation. Summer is careful monitoring as the fruit develops through the heat. Autumn harvest is done by hand, preserving the olives intact and avoiding the bruising that mechanical harvesting causes.

Beyond the productive groves, a significant part of what Castruriali does is the restoration of abandoned trees — ancient specimens neglected for decades that, with patient care, can be brought back into full productivity. This is slower and more labour-intensive than conventional farming, but it is what connects us to the centuries of history in these landscapes.

Cold extraction uses no heat and no chemicals. We use minimal water in the production process. The olive residue (pomace) left after extraction is composted and returned to the soil. Our dark glass bottles are designed to extend the oil's shelf life and reduce food waste.

We are not perfect, and we are always working to reduce the footprint of getting the oil from Sicily to your table — in packaging, in logistics, in everything. But the core of what we do — small-batch, traditional, low-intervention farming and pressing — is inherently less damaging than industrial olive oil production.

The name Castruriali is rooted in Castroreale — the ancient hilltop town in north-east Sicily where our oil is made. Castroreale derives from the Latin Castrum Regale, meaning Royal Fortress, a nod to the town's medieval Norman heritage and its commanding position in the Peloritani mountains.

Castruriali is our rendering of that name in the local Sicilian dialect — the way the people of the town have always said it. It is a name that belongs to the land, and carrying it on the bottle is our way of keeping that connection alive.

Castruriali is a collaboration between the UK and Sicily. The oil is produced by Antonio Mandanici at Oleificio Mandanici in Castroreale — a family mill with deep roots in the olive-growing tradition of north-east Sicily. Antonio's meticulous approach to cold extraction, from harvest to bottling, is what makes the oil what it is.

The brand was founded to bring that exceptional single-estate oil directly to tables in the UK and beyond — cutting out the blending, the intermediaries and the compromises that most imported Italian oils go through on their way to a supermarket shelf.

Yes — and it is something we are actively launching. From Q3 2026, you will be able to adopt one of Sicily's ancient, long-neglected olive trees and be part of their restoration from afar. Each adoption directly funds the care and rehabilitation of a tree that may have stood for centuries.

If you would like to register your interest ahead of the launch, write to us at sales@castruriali.com and we will be in touch as soon as it is ready.

Yes — we work with a carefully selected network of independent retailers, delis and restaurants that share our commitment to quality and provenance. If you would like to stock Castruriali or feature it on your menu, we would love to hear from you.

Contact us at sales@castruriali.com to discuss wholesale pricing, minimum orders and partnership terms.

We stock Castruriali through a hand-picked network of independent retailers across the UK — delis, farm shops and restaurants that share our standards. See the full list, with a searchable map, on our Partners page.

You can also buy direct from us online with UK-wide delivery, or find us at St Albans Market every Saturday.

Not always — though it is often a positive sign. Very fresh, early-harvest oils are typically vivid green, reflecting high chlorophyll content and polyphenol levels. But colour alone is not a reliable quality indicator.

Some producers manipulate the colour by blending in small amounts of early-pressed oil or using chlorophyll additives. Conversely, a golden, late-harvest oil may be beautifully balanced and flavourful — simply at a different point in the olive's ripeness spectrum.

Colour is one signal among many. The more reliable tests are flavour (fruity, bitter and peppery), aroma (fresh, grassy and green — not flat or waxy), a visible harvest date on the label and knowledge of the actual producer.

Price is a reasonable proxy but not a guarantee. A high price can genuinely reflect the cost of quality — hand-harvesting, rapid pressing, small-batch production and careful dark-glass bottling are all expensive. It can also reflect clever branding, attractive packaging or a famous region rather than what is actually in the bottle.

The most reliable test is to taste it. A genuinely high-quality extra virgin oil should smell fresh and green, taste fruity with a clear bitter edge, and finish with a distinct peppery catch in the throat. If it tastes flat, greasy or neutral at any price, it is not worth it.

No — this is a persistent and unhelpful myth. Extra virgin olive oil is an excellent cooking oil up to around 190–210°C, which covers the vast majority of home cooking. Its stability at heat actually makes it a better choice for many cooking applications than refined vegetable oils, which can produce harmful compounds at the same temperatures.

The idea that it should only be used for dressings likely comes from price sensitivity (it feels wasteful to cook with expensive oil) and outdated advice based on lower-quality oils with higher acidity. With Castruriali, cook freely — and add a final raw drizzle at the end for the full flavour impact.

Because the polyphenols, aromatics and live flavour compounds that define a genuinely fresh extra virgin oil have already degraded — through poor olive quality, delays before pressing, exposure to heat, light or air in storage, or simply age.

An oil that smells of nothing and tastes of nothing is not a neutral product. It is a degraded one. The bitterness and peppery finish that many people find surprising in a fresh, high-quality oil are exactly what you are supposed to taste. If your olive oil is flat and bland, it has lost what made it worth buying.

Because Italian olive oil commands a premium — and demand consistently outstrips what Italy actually produces. Blending oil from Spain, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia or other producing countries, then bottling it in Italy and labelling it "packed in Italy" is perfectly legal under current EU rules, even if the olives never touched Italian soil.

This is not necessarily fraud — a well-made blend can be a decent product — but it is not what most buyers picture when they pay a premium for something labelled Italian. Single-origin oils like Castruriali, produced from olives grown on a specific estate in a specific Sicilian valley, carry far more meaningful traceability.

Look for a harvest date, a named estate or mill and a specific origin region to know what you are actually buying.

The Castruriali Experience is an invitation to step beyond the bottle and into the landscape where the oil is made. Set in and around Castroreale — our hilltop home in north-east Sicily — it is a curated visit to the groves, the family mill and the countryside that has shaped this oil for generations.

Every experience is arranged privately and personally. This is not a group tour or a ticketed event — it is a handful of guests, by arrangement, with the people who actually make the oil. Whether that means walking the groves at harvest, watching the press run or simply sitting in the Sicilian hills with bread and a bottle, we shape it around you.

Simply reach out to us directly at sales@castruriali.com or via the enquiry form on the Experience page. Tell us roughly when you are thinking of coming, how many people are in your group and what you most want from the visit.

We will come back to you personally to discuss the options, confirm availability and put together something that suits you. There is no booking system — just a conversation.

Yes — and we actively encourage it. If you would like us to, we can help coordinate far more than just the visit itself. We have connections across the area and can assist with accommodation recommendations in and around Castroreale, local restaurants worth visiting, transfers, and suggestions for other things to do in the Peloritani mountains and along the Tyrrhenian coast.

Just let us know how much or how little you would like from us and we will take care of it.

Yes. The groves in the hills above Castroreale are central to the experience — you can walk them, see the trees up close and understand the landscape that shapes what ends up in the bottle. Oleificio Mandanici, the family press where all Castruriali oil is made, is also part of the visit when timing allows.

If you come during harvest season (typically October to November), you can see the whole process — from picking through to the first press — in real time. Outside harvest, the mill is still well worth a visit and we can walk you through how it works.

October and November are the most vivid time to visit — this is harvest season, when the olives come off the trees and go straight to the press. The activity, the smells and the energy of the mill are unlike anything else.

That said, the groves are beautiful and the countryside compelling at any time of year. Spring brings fresh growth and wildflowers across the hillsides. Summer is warm and still, with the fruit swelling on the trees through the long dry months. Winter, after harvest, is quieter — but no less atmospheric.

Whatever the season, contact us and we will tell you honestly what you can expect at that time of year.

Experiences are intimate by design. We typically host groups of up to eight to ten people, though smaller groups — couples, families or a handful of friends — are equally welcome and often make for the most personal visits.

For larger groups such as corporate events or special occasions, please contact us and we will discuss what is possible.

Very much so. The Castruriali Experience makes a distinctive setting for a birthday, anniversary, honeymoon, or a corporate retreat. Sicily is a remarkable backdrop, and the intimacy of a private visit to a working estate adds something that a standard holiday itinerary cannot.

If you have a particular occasion in mind, tell us when you enquire — we will do what we can to make it right.

First cold pressed is a traditional term that, strictly speaking, has become a little redundant — but it remains a useful quality signal.

Historically, olives were pressed multiple times: the first press produced the finest oil, while subsequent pressings (often using heat or hot water) extracted lower-grade oil from the remaining paste. First cold pressed meant the very best of the batch.

With modern centrifuge extraction, there is effectively only one extraction — so all quality extra virgin olive oil is, by definition, from the first pressing. The term now simply signals that no heat, solvents or chemical processes were involved at any stage.

You will see it on Castruriali as a mark of that commitment. What matters most is that the oil is genuinely extra virgin, cold-processed and freshly harvested — all of which ours is.