“I Muri DOP Monti Iblei”

Shipping and Handling

Prices include cost to your nominated address however do not include local import taxes where applicable.

Delivery Schedule

We deliver Monday to Friday, some hauliers may also operate on Saturday morning. Orders placed by 9am will be dispatched the same day and will be delivered by our approved courier to arrive within 48 hours. Please note that all packages must be checked first and  signed for, we cannot accept liability if asked to leave it  in a garage, porch or any nominated safe place.

Orders placed after 9am will be dispatched the following day.

Back Orders

Because we use small suppliers and sell a lot of seasonal products, all goods featured on our website are subject to availability. We endeavour to keep the website updated but if a product you order should be unavailable you will be notified of this by phone or email and given the chance to choose an alternative item, cancel your order completely, or put it on back order to wait until it is in stock (we will ship your other items to you if you wish).

If we are unable to contact you we will go ahead and dispatch the rest of your order without the said item.

Frantoi Covato are located on the Iblei hills in San Giacomo, near Ragusa, in the south-east of Sicily. Since 1985 they have been producing high quality extra virgin olive oil obtained from the typical centenary olive groves “protected” by the famous Hyblaean “dry” stone walls, built in the past to delimit the plots of the plateaus. The ever-green olive trees together with the centuries-old carob trees, the stone rural houses, the farms with large “bagghiu” open spaces and the unspoiled “quarries” are some of the characteristics of a unique and laborious mountain territory.

In a cool, dry place. Protected from light, heat sources and unpleasant odors. Once opened, minimize exposure to air.
Best consumed within 18 months from the date of bottling.

Why does olive oil get cloudy and thick?

Probably at some point you’ve seen some white lumps in the olive oil you store at home, but you know why?

If you’re a long time olive oil user then it’s possible that at some point you’ve noticed white crystals in the olive oil you keep at home. But do you know what they are and why they are there?

To explain, let’s start by comparing the freezing process of olive oil and water:

Water is a homogeneous liquid made entirely of H2O (hydrogen and oxygen) molecules. Since it’s made of one type of molecule, all of its particles freeze at the same temperature: 0ºC (32º fahrenheit). As the temperature lowers, the movement of the water molecules becomes slower until the water reaches freezing temperature at 0ºC, at this point the molecules stop moving and the water freezes and becomes solid: ice.

A similar process takes places with olive oil, but olive oil is not a homogeneous liquid like water is. The difference is that olive oil is made of a few different molecules, called triglycerides, and each has its own freezing temperature. The freezing point of these different molecules ranges between 0ºC and 15ºC  depending on the fatty acid composition. The colder the olive oil gets, the greater the number of molecules that will start solidifying. Cold temperatures is the reason some white crystals may appear in your bottle of olive oil, especially during winter months.

Does that mean the olive oil is not good to use?

Not at all! The olive is perfectly fine without causing any nutrient loss. The freezing process is perfectly natural and has no impact on the quality of the olive oil.

In colder homes and countries in the Europe, olive oil can freeze under normal conditions, especially during the winter. In these cases, don’t worry and just remember that it’s actually better to store olive oil at a cold temperature. Cold temperatures prevent degradation of the olive oil., be sure to store your olive oil  in the coldest place in your kitchen or pantry, to keep it as fresh as the first day you got it.