Unilever Bestfoods wants consumers to regard its Bertolli olive oils like wine. Our guinea pigs try the Jilly Goolden approach. Teacher Tina Garnham and engineer Riccardo Meldoles live in Hove, East Sussex My partner does most of the cooking at home and, as he's Italian, our diet is positively Mediterranean. Olive oil is a mainstay ingredient; it replaces butter, cooking oil and dressing. We use it on everything from salad to sauces, on bread with salt, or just over a bowl of olives, so a range with different subtleties was a welcome change. There are five oils in the Bertolli range. We started with Delicato ­ the palest in colour, resembling a Chardonnay and reminiscent of summer. The light colour particularly appealed to me ­ it looked pure and good for you and didn't seem heavy or greasy when poured into the pan. However, first impressions were misleading. While devoid of any overly strong smell, Delicato does have an acidic taste and doesn't lend any flavour to what is cooked in it. The next one we tried was the Gentile. Again, its soft name did not translate into a soft taste. It was also slightly acidic, even tried with bread, but it had a fuller body than the Delicato. Extra Vergine was my favourite. It was more oily but less acidic than the first two, with a sweet, pleasant flavour. It was almost creamy when drizzled and was distinctive without overwhelming the food. This one triggered memories of salads eaten outside, Italian style. Robusto was voluptuous, lush, and packaged in a bottle with red overtones ­ the Vindaloo' of the oils. It looked like red wine. However, it was bitter. You could actually taste the olives but olives that weren't ripe. Tradizionale was a cross between Extra Vergine and Delicato, and combined the best of each. It is unfiltered and looked full of natural flavour, with a rough texture and a slightly nutty, sour smell that was quite appetising. This was delicious on parsley garnish without swamping the flavour of the fish, and worked well over new potatoes and sprouts with a teaspoon of honey. Our joint favourite was the Extra Vergine because it was an aromatic, archetypal olive oil. The percentage of olives in the oil is the key factor for purity, apparently, and all the oils in the Bertolli range except the Delicato are made from pure extra virgin oil. Delicato, though, was perhaps the most suitable for frying. {{MARKETING - P&P }}

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