Casa da Amoreira

Olive grove journal · Fundão, Castelo Branco

The oil.

One pressing a year, from two varieties, picked and sorted by the two of us.

I · The varieties

Galega

Portugal's own olive, and the one most Portuguese oil is built on. Small, late to ripen, and where the fruit at the front of the taste comes from.

Cordovil

The other half of the blend, grown through the Castelo Branco and Alentejo country. This is where the pepper comes from.

II · The taste

Fruity first. Then the pepper.

Opens
Fresh and green, straight off the fruit.
Develops
Rounder and more complex through the middle.
Finishes
A peppery catch at the back of the throat. That is the Cordovil.
A mass of freshly picked green olives
Off the tree and on the way to the press.

III · The harvest

Picked by hand, pressed fresh.

We pick by hand over a few weeks in autumn. Nets go down under the trees, ladders go up into them, and the fruit goes into the wicker baskets the previous owners left in the barn. From there it goes to be pressed.

IV · How we farm

Nothing artificial.

No artificial pesticides and no artificial fertilisers. Nothing goes on these trees that we would not want in the bottle.

V · Bottles

500ml now. 250ml next year.

This year's oil is in 500ml bottles. There will be 250ml as well from next harvest.

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