The Advantages of Virgin Olive Oil

Stock your pantry with virgin olive oil to enhance salads, vegetables and meats. Use it to create flavorful marinades for seafood or infuse it with herbs and use it as a bread dip. It can also be used for hot and cold pasta dishes. You can even cook with olive oil -- just keep the heat on low to medium to prevent the oil from smoking.

What is Virgin Olive Oil?

Olive oil labeled as virgin is extracted via the cold-press method. No heat or chemicals are used, which results in a pure, premium-quality oil. Williams Sonoma has a variety of cold-pressed oils from which to choose. One is Marfuga olive oil, which is made in Italy from a trio of olives harvested from the Marfuga foothills. The olives are processed within hours of harvest and only the rich, emerald-green oil from the first pressing is used.

Colonna also makes cold-pressed olive oils. The classic olive oil from this Italian brand has a golden-green hue and a flavor that's nutty, buttery and slightly peppery. There's also a lemon olive oil from Colonna, which mills the oil with organic lemon peel for a burst of citrusy flavor. These oils can be purchased separately or as a set of two.

There's also Espuny olive oil, which is crafted from arbequina olives in Andalusia, Spain. This single-varietal olive oil has a light, nutty flavor that's versatile enough for most any dish. It comes in a vibrant yellow container that can be displayed on the kitchen counter for sunny style. Muraglia olive oil from Italy also comes in a decorative container, which features a large red lobster against a white background.

Williams Sonoma has a flavored olive oil infused with roasted garlic. It's crafted in Northern California by Sutter Buttes Olive Oil and contains the cold-pressed oil of local arbequina olives blended with fragrant roasted garlic oil. Another option is smoked olive oil from The Smoked Olive of Napa Valley. The cold-pressed extra-virgin oil has a woodsy, smoky flavor that's produced without exposure to heat or light to ensure purity and quality.

Oils, Vinegars and Condiments

In addition to virgin olive oil, Williams Sonoma has an array of flavored and balsamic vinegars. There are oil-and-vinegar sets for creating homemade salad dressing, along with an array of savory truffle oils. Create your own flavored oils and vinegars by adding various seasonings. If you need to stock your spice collection, Williams Sonoma has spice sets such as the Spice Lab 11-vial set. Browse the selection to find oils and seasonings to flavor every meal.