[muawiyah]

Not really. The best olive oil is the one with the consistency and taste that you like. A bad "first press" is inferior. I've had some Lebanese olive oil that was total garbage, and the cultivar for the trees in that country undoubtedly derives from the ORIGINALS.

I'm a believer in the dicta that with work and attention agriculturalists can improve plant products over time. Spain wins (at the moment).

[BunnySlippers]

I have not had a first press that I did not like but I doubt that I have been exposed to lives that bad.

Your premise that first press is for phonies is wrong. The first press of a batch of olives is the best of that batch ... that is, if you like the fresh full olive flavor. Not everyone does. I do as do many others.

But to write off anyone who likes extra virgin as a phony silly.