Two bottles side by side, same price, same "extra virgin" on the front. One was harvested three months ago, the other two years ago. Nothing on the front tells them apart.
It all comes down to the label. Here is how to read it, in the order we read it ourselves.
The harvest date comes first
It is the most useful piece of information. It is also the one most often missing.
Olive oil is not wine. It does not improve with age. It loses its aromas from the first year onwards. Oil from the current harvest is lively, green and peppery. The same oil, two years later, is flat.
Most bottles only show a date of minimum durability, the "best before" date. It is calculated from bottling, not from the harvest. Yet an oil can sit in a tank for months before it is bottled. A distant date therefore proves nothing about freshness.
Look for "2026 harvest". If it is not there, that is already an answer.
"Extra virgin" is a definition, not a compliment
The term is regulated by European law. Extra virgin olive oil is obtained by mechanical means only: crushing, malaxing, separation. No solvents. No refining. It must also pass a taste test before a panel and show no defects.
"Virgin olive oil" is one step below. "Olive oil" on its own means a blend containing refined oil. Three different products, in three bottles that look very alike on the shelf.
Acidity: an exact figure, not a range
Free acidity measures the breakdown of the olive's fats before and during pressing. Contrary to what the word suggests, you cannot taste it: it is measured in a laboratory, on a given batch, to the hundredth.
The legal ceiling for extra virgin oil is 0.8%. It is a limit, not a target. Carefully made oils sit well below it.
Be wary of approximate wording: "acidity below 0.8%", "acidity < 0.5%", "low acidity". None of them tells you what is in the bottle. "Below 0.8%" only means the oil complies with the law, which is the minimum required to be allowed to write "extra virgin". A range or an adjective is a sales argument; a figure is a measurement.
Real acidity is written with two decimal places and tied to a harvest: 0.19%, 0.33%, 0.42%. A producer who has had the harvest analysed knows this exact figure and has no reason to hide it behind a "less than".
At Oikos Antalis, our analyses are online, cuvée by cuvée: 0.33% for Skourochori and 0.42% for Agios Ilias (2026 harvest), 0.19% for Paliovarvassena (2025 harvest). They also show polyphenols and the absence of pesticide residues. See the analyses, or read how to read an olive oil analysis.
Origin: a continent, a country or an estate
"Origin: European Union" is a perfectly legal statement. It means the oil comes from one or more EU countries, without saying which. In practice it is a blend: several countries, several harvests, several qualities, combined to maintain a steady price and taste from one year to the next.
"Origin: Greece" is more precise. A named estate is more precise still: you know who harvested, where and when.
At Oikos Antalis, our four olive groves in Ilia, in the Peloponnese, are bottled separately, each under its own name. One plot, one harvest, one cuvée. It is the opposite of a blend, and we stand by it on the label.
The variety, when it is shown
Koroneiki, Picholine, Arbequina, Coratina: each variety has its own profile. Koroneiki, the predominant variety in Greece, gives fruity, peppery oils rich in polyphenols. Our four cuvées are 100% Koroneiki.
A label that names the variety tells you something about the work behind it. A silent label hints at a blend.
"Bottled in...": the wording to read twice
"Bottled in Italy" does not mean "Italian olives". It is the bottler's address, nothing more. It often appears in large print on the front, while the real origin of the olives is on the back, in small print.
When the two statements seem to contradict each other, it is the second one that tells you about the olives.
The last signs, in three seconds
- The glass. Dark, or a metal tin. Light damages oil. A clear bottle under shop lighting ages quickly.
- The batch number. It allows you to trace back to a specific tank. It is the mark of a monitored production.
- Medals. They carry a year. A competition won five years ago says nothing about today's bottle.
- The size. A large opened bottle takes months to finish. A small one is enjoyed while fresh.
The checklist, before you pay
Five questions are enough. Is the harvest dated? Does it really say "extra virgin"? Is the acidity an exact figure rather than a range? Is the origin precise? Does the glass protect the oil?
Five yeses, and you are probably holding a good bottle. Two yeses, and there is room for doubt.
To go further, read our guide to Greek olive oil. And to see what a label that tells you everything looks like, our bottles are here.