Extra virgin, virgin, PDO and PGI: the differences
What each word guarantees, and what it does not.
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On the shelves there are many words and they look alike. Some describe the quality of the oil, others the place it comes from. They are two different things, and it pays to keep them apart.
The categories: a matter of quality
European law divides olive oils into categories, and each category has its own laboratory and tasting limits.
| Maximum acidity | On tasting | |
|---|---|---|
| Extra virgin | 0.8% | no defects, and the fruitiness of the olive comes through |
| Virgin | 2.0% | some slight defects allowed |
| Olive oil | — | a blend of refined oil and virgin oil |
Extra virgin and virgin oils are made by mechanical means only: the olives are crushed and the oil is separated, without solvents and without refining. Plain “olive oil”, on the other hand, contains refined oil, treated to remove its defects.
Tasting is not a matter of opinion: it is done by a recognised panel of tasters, with a method set by law. To be extra virgin, defects must be zero and fruitiness must be there.
PDO and PGI: a matter of place
PDO and PGI are European marks that protect the link between a product and its area.
- PDO (protected designation of origin): all stages take place in the named area. For an oil it means the olives are grown and harvested there, and the oil is made there.
- PGI (protected geographical indication): at least one of the stages takes place in the area. Many olive oil PGI specifications still require olives and mill to be in the area: the exact rule is written in each one’s specification.
Every PDO and PGI has a specification: a public document setting out varieties, area, yields and characteristics. Producers are checked by an independent body, and the mark may appear on the label only after those checks.
Today only a small share of the Italian oil sold is PDO or PGI: between 3 and 4%, according to the Ismea-Qualivita 2025 report.
What about organic?
That is something else again: it says how the olives were grown (without synthetic products, under the European organic rules), not where they come from nor how good the oil is. An oil can be organic and PDO, just organic, or just PDO.
So what should you look at?
- That it is extra virgin: the highest category.
- The origin: where the olives were harvested and where the mill is. The law requires it on every bottle, mark or no mark. How to read it is explained in the label guide.
- The harvest season: the younger the oil, the more aroma it keeps.
- If present, the PDO or PGI mark: an extra guarantee about the place, checked by someone.
On Orterra
Only producers using Italian raw material sell on Orterra, and every lot has a public page with the municipality where the olives grew, the hectares and trees declared and how much oil came out of them. It is not a PDO mark: it is the account, written where anyone can check it. If an oil is also PDO or PGI, you will find it on its product page.
Sources: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/2104, Article 6 and Annex I; Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 on geographical indications; EUIPO, “Geographical indications”; Ismea-Qualivita 2025 report, cited by Agricultura.it on 3 December 2025.