Meneghetti: four single-varietal olive oils and a guided tasting near Bale

The Meneghetti estate near Bale produces four single-varietal extra virgin olive oils. The Wine Lounge presents them in guided tastings booked in advance.

Four varieties from the same olive grove

About 700 Leccino, Buža, Rosinjola and Istrian Bjelica trees grow across roughly two and a half hectares of the estate. Each variety is processed separately, making the differences in fruitiness, bitterness and pungency clear.

• Leccino is the mildest oil, with aromas of green apple, almond and freshly cut grass.
• Buža is fruitier, moderately bitter and more distinctly pungent.
• Rosinjola brings notes of artichoke and tomato leaf, with stronger bitterness and pungency.
• Istrian Bjelica is the most assertive, with notes of green tomato and Mediterranean herbs.

Izbor blends the four varieties

Alongside its single-varietal oils, Meneghetti makes Izbor, a blend of Buža, Leccino, Rosinjola and Istrian Bjelica. It joins the milder, fruitier end of the range with the stronger bitterness and pungency of Rosinjola and Bjelica.

Flos Olei rates the producer, not an individual label. Meneghetti scored between 94 and 96 points in the guide's 2019 to 2026 editions, receiving 95 points in both 2025 and 2026.

Processed no later than six hours after harvest

Leccino and Buža are picked by hand in early October, followed by Rosinjola and Istrian Bjelica in the middle of the month. The olives enter a two-phase extraction process no later than six hours after harvest, without added water and at temperatures of up to 28 °C.

The oils are filtered immediately and stored under inert gas in stainless-steel tanks. This limits their exposure to oxygen between extraction and bottling.

Olive oil tasting in the Wine Lounge

The guided tasting in the Wine Lounge presents all four single-varietal oils in sequence, accompanied by small Istrian bites. Advance booking is required, and visitors do not need to be staying at the hotel.

Tasting the oils in this order reveals what a description of each bottle cannot: how distinctly oils from the same grove can differ in aroma, bitterness and pungency.

The address is Stancija Meneghetti 1. The most reliable approach is from Bale via the E751. Navigation apps sometimes suggest an unpaved road from Barbariga, which the host advises against. Free parking and an electric-vehicle charging point are available.

Distance from Bale: 12 minutes driving (8.6 km)

Olive oil score in the Flos Olei guide: 2020 94, 2019 96, 2022 94, 2021 94, 2023 94, 2024 94, 2025 95, 2026 95

For: families, first time visitors

Address: Stancija Meneghetti 1, 52211 Bale

What to do: information, architecture, landscape, recreation, refreshments, food and drink

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