A taste of Tuscany in Bar Harbor

On one side of the shop are more than a dozen varieties of first-press olive oils. The best. During pressing, some are infused with natural ingredients like Tuscan herbs, blood oranges, chipotle, or Persian lime, producing uniform and distinct flavors. On the room’s other side are syrupy, aged, traditional balsamic vinegars and smooth, intense variations such as dark chocolate, vanilla, fig, or black cherry.

Each cylinder has a spout. Pour a few drops of liquid into a tiny plastic cup and taste the olive oil or vinegar by dipping a finger or small piece of bread into the cup. Note your favorites on a slip of paper. A delightful hour disappeared tasting each possibility (other visitors were quicker) until our choices were poured from the cylinders into corked bottles, pretty enough for gifts.

Extra-virgin olive oil is the result of first crushing, then cold pressing the olives. The unfiltered oil is extracted naturally, without heat or chemicals. First-press olive oils are the most refined of several possible grades. Produced at harvest time, they have the freshest taste and the most antioxidants for all kinds of health benefits. Fiore buys only from artisanal mills, like craft brewers, where fresh herbs or fruits are pressed along with the olives. The selection rotates as seasons change.

Balsamic vinegars are produced from sweet wine grapes harvested in late summer, in this case in Italy’s Modena and Reggio regions. The grapes are boiled down to about 30 percent of original volume, creating a concentrate. This reduction is slowly fermented in a series of increasingly smaller wooden casks for 12 to 18 years until the liquid is rich, dark brown, and as complex as fine wine. Pure or infused, these vinegars would elevate anything they’re drizzled on, from salad greens to pears or ice cream.

Fiore opened tasting rooms in Bar Harbor in 2009 and in Rockland in 2010. The sales assistant answered questions about the oils’ shelf life (about one year) and suggested combinations of olive oil and balsamic vinegar that work well together. Purchases can be shipped, and there’s a small selection of cruet sets and related gift items.

Janet Mendelsohn can be reached at www.janetmendelsohn.com.