Hello Grazoid,
First off, we have a VERY heartfelt email going out tomorrow that I hope you get a chance to see. It is more "fun" than this email, so if you have to pick which one to read, pick tomorrows. If you just to happen to have time, read both plz.
Second off, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! If you're anything like my stomach, you are craving vegetables quite a bit this morning. We're in Spain for the holidays where the tables are jam packed with jamon, cheese, cigalas, langostinos, and rockfish pate. And wine. And cider. And champagne. And bread. Sheesh!
Ok, now for some oil updates.
Behind all the beautiful colors, illustrations, recipes, and all that jazz, we are oil nerds. If you've been on our site, or tried a bottle of Graza, which of course you have because you are on this email list, then you've likely seen the words "Picual from Jaen, Spain". Picual, being the only varietal we have worked with to date, and one that we believe producers top-tier extra virgin olive oil, both in terms of its organoleptic profiles, and shelf-stability, and Jaen, being the origin of our sourcing practices.
Let's dive in a bit deeper. The promise that we make to our lovely Grazoids (that's you customer), is that we only provide never blended, single origin, single varietal extra virgin olive oil, drizzle being harvested early, and sizzle a bit later. So what is the relevance of all of these callouts? Any why are we even talking about this. Well, as it turns out, we've purchased some incredibly delicious oil from other regions of Spain this year, and from outside of Spain. all while keeping our never blended, single origin, single varietal promise.
Let's dive even deeeeeeeper:
Single Origin: We firmly believe that oil being from one place is critically correlated to the quality of that oil, however, where that place is much less important. There are of course nuances in the terroir, and some countries only work with specific varietals, or have too much minerality in their soil, but simply put, there is good olive oil all over the world. Spain happens to produce 49% of the worlds supply, but that does make it exclusively "the best". Also, when speaking about autonomous regions in Spain, or anywhere in the mediterranean for that matter, we are talking about the difference of 1 kilometer sometimes. Jaen, Granada, Malaga, Cordoba, Sevilla, and Cadiz are literally next door neighbors, with some picual farms spanning across multiple regions.
Single Varietal: Here, there is some serious nuance. Not all olive varietals yield the same EVOO, nor do they have the same taste nor quality properties over time. Additionally, farming practices vary drastically across varietals, also having a drastic impact on the quality of the olive, and thus oil, produced. Over the past 40 years, to maximize yield, new oil farms have planted "super high density" farms, utilizing most frequently the Arbequina and Arbosana varietals, whereas these plants allow for overhead machine harvesting. While these plants sound sexy, the product they produce is inferior in quality, phenolic loads, and oxidative stability. Additionally, researchers in Spain stand firm that high-density olive agriculture is extremely abusive on its soil, and eliminates the natural predators of pests that aversely impact olive fruits. The only reason to farm this way is to maximize yield, and thus a purely dollar driver decision, which of course has a purpose in our economy. Also, a 100 year old Arbequina tree from the high country in Catalonia (exquisite) cannot be compared to a super-high density Arbequina from California.
As it pertains to Graza, we started with picual because it CANNOT be farmed in super-high density practices, and while it comes at a premium due to traditional harvesting, we stand by the product that it creates. This year, as we looked to combat global olive oil shortages, we evaluated a few additional varietals to work into the mix, specifically ones that our master olive sommelier feels closely resemble everything we love about picual. We purchased a bit of the Italian olive varietal Coratina, from Bari, Italy, and the Greek varietal, Koroneiki, albeit our supply is from Alentejo, Portugal. Thus, all Graza remains never blended, single-origin, single-varietal, selected carefully for the oils punchy flavors and oxidative stability, but this year, you might see the following on your bottles:
Picual from Jaen, Spain
Picual from Granada, Spain
Picual from Cordoba, Spain
Picual from Sevilla, Spain
Picual from Alentejo, Portugal
Koroneiki from Alentejo, Portugal
Coratina from Bari, Italy
When you grow quickly as a new business, the hardest decisions to make are ones where you need to balance your unit economics with your product quality. We will never sacrifice quality to make an extra buck. All of these oils are incredible, and maybe you would have noticed, maybe not, but we are so proud to the effort we put in to procure these products. Just for context, it is the first time in HISTORY that Italian extra virgin olive oil has been bottled in Spain. True Italian EVOO is always more expensive than Spanish EVOO (labor forces and economies of scale), so forever, Italian blending facilities would procure oil from Spain to ship and blend with other oils from all over the world in Italy. We flipped the game on its head, all for love of quality.
We will not be selling these products "separately" as vanity products. They are all "Sizzle" or "Drizzle" depending on when they were harvested, independent of where they were harvested. The only way to try them all is to stick with Graza and double your Graza consumption :-P
Sent with love,
Andrew Benin
Co-founder, CEO, and oil freak
P.S. - this was not proofread so apologies for typos
P.P.S - If you forgot about any loved ones or friends, gift em a Graza gift set why don't ya! They will love it even if it arrives next week!
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