Direct from Bella Italia Three Enchanting Extra Virgin Olive Oils That Will Elevate Every Meal and Seasonal Celebration

• Chosen by your Olive Oil Hunter and meticulously handcrafted with Italy’s leading artisanal producers.
• Brimming with the polyphenols that confer many of extra virgin olive oil’s health benefits.
• Certified 100 percent extra virgin olive oil by an independent lab and delivered to the US by jet for the ultimate freshness and flavor.

---

They say that all roads lead to Rome, but, more important, all roads from Rome lead to olives! You can even see olive trees growing in the shadow of the Colosseum along the Appian Way, the ancient thoroughfare that led south.

I’m always happy to be in the Eternal City and even more excited this year. Early intel was that central Italy was having an olive oil comeback—no weather or harvesting drama, just wonderful olives. Spring rains had led to bountiful blossoms and trees heavy with fruit.

After a hot summer, the hoped-for autumn rains arrived on cue to help promote the right aromas and taste sensations. It’s not hyperbole to say that these were the most glorious looking olives I’ve seen in 10 years.

Sadly, that was not the scenario in southern regions like Calabria and Sicily. So, this trip found my Merry Band of Tasters and me crisscrossing a relatively narrow west-to-east swath of this glorious country. We visited favored-status farms in regions including Lazio, Umbria, and Abruzzo to sample superlative fresh-pressed oils for you, dear Club member, and decide on the best of the best—this season presented us with an embarrassment of riches!

A Happy Surprise

As Club members know, I deeply appreciate having international olive oil authority Duccio Morozzo della Rocca on so many of my olive oil hunts. Duccio is skilled in every aspect of making olive oil, from tree cultivation to the extraction process and, most meaningful for the Club, serves as my right hand in creating specific flavor profiles. Each quarter, our goal is to perfect a trio of oils that will dazzle you—we know how much you appreciate having a mild, a medium, and a bold oil to pair with different foods. The band of central Italy where we traveled this quarter is home to a vast number of microclimates, which help create diverse flavors even within the same olive variety. Our attention was focused on crafting exquisite custom blends with the help of master millers.

Plus, Duccio and I had a surprise for you up our collective sleeve: the debut of an amazing olive oil from northern Puglia, on the Adriatic—specifically, Fratelli Ruggiero, the farm of Nicola Ruggiero and his brother, Mario. Duccio and I began brainstorming months ago for a new way to tantalize your tastebuds, and we decided on Fratelli Ruggiero for multiple reasons, notably, the opportunity to work with a colleague of Duccio’s, Nicolangelo Marsicani. A master miller and olive oil impresario who often advises Nicola, Nicolangelo was particularly thrilled by a very special olive variety, Favolosa—“fabulous” in Italian. The Fratelli Ruggiero oil, our mild selection, more than lived up to the moniker.

And there’s much more deliciousness that awaits you: a spicy medium oil from Claudio Di Mercurio’s Frantoio Mercurius, with an artichoke profile and hints of green almond, and a vibrant bold oil from Colli Etruschi, the collective led by Nicola Fazzi, with its more almond profile and hints of raw artichoke—two oils from the same “flavor family” but with very different personalities.

Passion You Can Taste

Each frantoio (mill) has its own unique approach to olive cultivation, harvesting, and milling. What these have in common is the passion of the three men at the helms. Ask what drew them to making olive oil, and each will answer that it’s in their blood, that their earliest memories are of the intoxicating aroma of olio nuovo, “new oil,” of the way it elevated even the simplest meals. They also share a determination to keep their farms thriving in the face of a changing climate and to constantly upgrade their processes to obtain the best olives and rush them to the mill—and then to you—as quickly as possible. This level of dedication results in olive oils you will adore and reach for again and again. Enjoy them on your own favorite foods and in the recipes found below, where you’ll find not only regional dishes but also some of the producers’ family favorites, and two from Duccio himself!

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

---

This Quarter’s First Selection

Club members know how much I value the longstanding relationships I’ve developed with the top artisanal olive oil makers around the world. Yet I also delight in expanding our global community when the stars align and I find a new producer whose olive oil sends tingles down my spine and, more importantly, on my palate! It’s with great fanfare that I present the first ever Club selection from Fratelli Ruggiero. In fact, it represents a series of firsts: working with Nicola Ruggiero and his brother Mario, creating an Italian extra virgin olive oil made from Favolosa—“fabulous”—olives, and having it crafted to perfection by renowned master miller Nicolangelo Marsicani, who has been collaborating with Fratelli Ruggiero for many years.

A Modern-Day Renaissance Man

Over the course of his career, Nicola has been deeply involved in local politics and served as president of the first consortium of Italian olive growers—but don’t expect to find him sitting behind a desk. He’s as hands-on as any producer I’ve ever met, working alongside his team in the grove every day. Nicola, who grew up in the coastal city of Bari but whose parents were raised in the countryside near his main farm, is laser-focused on growing olives of the highest quality and is meticulous about every design detail: how far apart his trees are planted, the perfect symmetry of their rows, even edging sections of the field with herbs. And to protect the flavor of his beautiful olives, he makes sure they get from tree to mill in record time.

An Olive Oil Concerto

Once our amazing fruit arrived at the mill, it rested on Nicolangelo to turn it into amazing olive oil. With Nicolangelo, I’ve come full circle: he and I first met 10 years ago, at his farm in Cilento National Park in Campania. I had hoped to introduce his own oil to the Club in those early days—I loved the quality, but there just wasn’t enough of it. Also, he might have been a bit apprehensive back then about just who the “Olive Oil Hunter” was, but now he knows we share the same goal of creating the highest-quality olive oil and expanding the audience of people who appreciate it how superior it is to run-of-the-mill (pun intended) products.

Crafting an oil for the Club was a challenge Nicolangelo embraced. Favolosa was the hands-down varietal of choice, but he knew it had to satisfy our desire for a predominantly green-grass-and-tomato-leaf profile. One of his greatest skills is being able to tune Fratelli Ruggiero’s state-of-the-art milling machinery, just as a concert violinist tunes their instrument, to achieve just the right aromatic balance of bitterness, spiciness, and fruitiness.

Nicolangelo, whose appreciation for fresh olive oil was born as tantalizing aromas wafted up to his childhood bedroom above his family’s mill, has spent much of his career studying transformative ways of growing, harvesting, and milling olives to create as perfect an oil as possible. Like Nicola, he’s very specific about parameters: his own preference is to harvest olives early, when they’re green and have a 58% humidity content. That signals the right ratio of pulp, water, and oil inside the olive, essential to achieving the right aroma. Our Favolosa olives were harvested at that precise moment, and all their characteristics have been captured in the bottle you have before you.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This is a beautiful expression of the Favolosa olive, an exciting and complex mild olive oil. On the nose, it’s grassy, with notes of tomato leaf, celery leaf, kale, thyme, basil, oregano, wheatgrass, green banana, green apple, and cinnamon. A vegetable garden in a bottle and on the palate, we tasted fennel, green tomato, wheatgrass, sweet basil, baby spinach, celery, carrot tops, the sweetness of Asian pear, the bitterness of walnuts, and a hint of the spiciness of Szechuan peppercorns.

It will elevate insalata Torre a Cona and other greens; salads with fruit; Duccio’s pastina soup, tomato-based soups and pasta sauces; turkey involtini; filetto di pesce in crosta di patate and other delicate fish; spinach and squash lasagna; pizza; carrot, sweet potato, or squash dishes; Caprese salad and other mozzarella dishes; goat cheese; and crusty breads.

*See the recipe section below for bolded dishes.

---

This Quarter’s Second Selection

“When I get an email from America, I know it is from T. J.,” confided Claudio Di Mercurio. The gregarious leader of Frantoio Mercurius, Claudio not only received excited, inquiring emails from me throughout the growing season but also—for an unprecedented seventh year in a row—collaborated on another extraordinary ultra-premium EVOO for our Club.

How has this tiny, 60-acre family enterprise in central Italy’s Abruzzo region been able to sustain such an extended winning streak? I’d attribute it to a combination of artisanal vision, meticulous planning, geographical specificity, immeasurable sweat equity, and a rare Italian olive, native to Abruzzo, called Dritta.

Rhymes with Rita

I had never heard of Dritta when I first visited Claudio’s farm, in 2018. As the Olive Oil Hunter, it is part of my life’s mission to sample and savor as many of the earth’s hundreds of olive varieties as I can, at least 550 of which are indigenous to Italy. Dritta lives up to its name, which translates variously as “consistent, dependable, trustworthy.” Unlike most cultivars, which alternate between years of high production and low, Dritta bears fruit consistently each year. Claudio’s team grows Dritta on about 70% of the land, with the other 30% devoted to an array of Italian varietals. Frantoio Mercurius is nestled in a microclimate, protected from weather extremes by the Apennine mountains to its north and the Mediterranean to the east.

Heart of an Artisan, Mind of an Engineer

Claudio founded the operation in 2009 with the mission of creating ultra-premium EVOO. A systems engineer by trade, he consulted—before pressing a single drop—with the esteemed Italian olive mill manufacturer Giorgio Mori. It’s no surprise that Frantoio Mercurius operates a state-of-the-art Mori mill with a special knife crusher and a technologically advanced cooling system that keeps the olive paste at a low temperature, helping to preserve the aromas and polyphenols in the EVOO. Frantoio Mercurius brought Abruzzese olive oil into the 21st century, winning regional awards in its very first pressing season.

The Embrace of Family and Food

When I and my Merry Band of Tasters arrived for the recent harvest, we were thrilled that Claudio and his sister Graziella extended an invitation for us to visit their family home, up in the mountains. In the late 1950s, Claudio explained, his father traveled to the US and worked in New York for a period, earning enough money to purchase land in Abruzzo upon his return. The Di Mercurios’ home took several years to build; they moved in when Claudio was six, in 1970.

What a joy it was to stroll the narrow, medieval-era streets of Appignano. And, oh mio Dio—the food! I knew Graziella was an outstanding cook, but witnessing her cooking shed, with gigantic pasta pots and wood ovens, and dining in her kitchen, surrounded by jars of fresh tomato passata, beauteous heirloom beans, a giant platter of foraged porcini mushrooms, and strings of dried pepperoncini—it was as though I had died and gone to heaven.

You may feel similarly transported when you taste this incredible exclusive Club selection. Initially, we had planned on a single-varietal Dritta, but when Claudio brought out samples of just-pressed Raggia, another rare local varietal, we discovered that a tiny amount of it fine-tuned the complexity and food-friendliness for a harmonious blend. From Abruzzo to your table, buon appetito!

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

The unique union of Dritta and Raggia olives joins two distinct personalities that enhance each other. We inhaled artichoke, dark leafy greens, radicchio, sweet hay, dark chocolate, and the sweetness of hazelnuts with a touch of pear and wild mint. On the palate, we again noted artichoke as well as spinach and dandelion greens, fresh walnuts and hazelnuts, the spiciness of celery leaves with hints of rosemary and nasturtium, and a persistent bitterness reminiscent of cacao nibs.

Lavish this oil on salads with nuts, Graziella’s pizza di scarola and focaccia, ancient grains like farro and spelt, brown rice, fave e cicoria, borlotti and other deeply hued beans, braised dark greens, roasted artichokes, shellfish and squid, beef dishes, pasta in walnut cream, recipes with nutmeg, breakfast smoothies, and brownies and other chocolate desserts.

*See the recipe section below for bolded dishes.

---

This Quarter’s Third Selection

Enthusiastic early reports from my scouts made me excited about collaborating once again with Nicola Fazzi and the historic cooperative Colli Etruschi, in the central Italian town of Blera. Veteran Club members will recall that we featured glorious EVOOs from this award-winning co-op in 2022 and 2019. Yet, whenever I’d touch base with Nicola about how the season was going, he’d respond only with an affirmative but tempered, “Good.”

My own tendency is to reach for superlatives when they’re deserved, but I know why he was cautious. Earlier this season, Colli Etruschi invested in a brand-new, state-of-the-art olive mill—and, as when a professional musician switches instruments or a race-car driver changes cars, Nicola was hesitant to pronounce it a successful upgrade until he had the proof in hand.

Now, my lucky Club member, you have the proof in hand, this sensational single-varietal Canino—the first official pressing from Colli Etruschi’s beautiful new Haus mill (Haus is a forward-thinking Turkish manufacturer). As soon as my Merry Band of Tasters and I had a hint of this liquid gold on our tastebuds, the unanimous cry was, “We’ve gotta have this oil!” Immediately, Nicola became more animated—it was as though he had been holding his breath, waiting for our approval. His excitement bloomed, and he proudly proclaimed this one of the best oils in his three decades with the co-op.

Local Heroes

Colli Etruschi was founded in 1965 by 18 local olive farmers who recognized that, with a cooperative model and shared mill, they could combine their talents, labor, and fruit to support one another through both bumper crops and lean harvests. When Nicola entered its ranks, 33 years ago, fresh out of agronomy school, he saw an opportunity to intensify the focus on quality and market the co-op’s EVOO commercially. Now, Colli Etruschi involves hundreds of small-scale olive farmers and continues its multifaceted mission to produce excellent olive oil, pay its members a living wage, practice sustainable agriculture, and give back to the community.

A Community of Excellence

Today, Nicola’s daughter, Isabella, works for the co-op in communications and marketing, and his son, Alessandro, is dedicated to rehabilitating a local grove of abandoned olive trees. Nicola, born in Blera, looks forward to retiring “in about 10 years.” Meanwhile, his innovations never cease: with the new mill, Colli Etruschi can prioritize early-harvest pressing of green olives (my preference, as Club members know, for optimizing flavors and polyphenols). I felt like a kid in a candy shop in the late afternoon, as farmers delivered bushels, baskets, and bins of just-picked, perfectly shaped, light-green olives, kilos and kilos of them, which would be rushed to the mill, cold-washed, and pressed into the golden-green elixir I have delivered to you.

Nicola prizes the herbaceous complexity of this oil, a blend of several separate pressings of Canino olives. This robust, gorgeously aromatic blend radiates dimension and personality greater than the sum of its parts.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

A vibrant, full-flavored crowd-pleaser, the aroma of this Canino is beautifully grassy, with notes of chopped culinary herbs, sweet almond, fennel, mint, and whiffs of lemon, vanilla, and arugula. We tasted the sweetness of almond with the spiciness of arugula and white pepper, the intense bitterness of radicchio, and hints of green apple and microgreens, with a lingering spicy finish.

This oil pairs beautifully with chicken cacciatore alla Romana, carpaccio, tuna and other meaty fish, octopus, risottos, beans, winter soups and braises, roasted root vegetables, wild mushrooms, roasted radicchio, broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, celery leaf bruschetta and other bruschetta toppings, roasted radicchio, porchetta spread, aged cheeses, millefoglie two ways, vanilla ice cream, and yogurt parfaits.

*See the recipe section below for bolded dishes.

---

Olive Oil and Health

---

Kudos from Club Members

Recipes

• Fave e Cicoria A silken purée of fava beans served alongside braised wild chicory is another Pugliese classic, one we enjoyed at Ai 2 Ghiottoni in Bari with the folks from Fratelli Ruggiero. While it’s possible to find fava beans (dried or frozen) in the US, wild chicory is elusive—dandelion greens are a great stand-in and available at… view recipe
• Chicken Cacciatore alla Romana This is the second family recipe Duccio shared with the Club. Considered a “white” cacciatore because it doesn’t have tomatoes, this one-pot prep was traditionally used for making rabbit. It is succulent and flavorful. Taggiasca olives are available in some gourmet food shops and online; you can also substitute your favorite fruity brined olives. Ingredients… view recipe
• Pasta in Walnut Cream This recipe was inspired by a pasta dish my Merry Band of Tasters and I enjoyed at Dal Sor Francesco, a restaurant in Vetralla near the Colli Etruschi mill that we try to visit every year. We arrived at the height of fresh walnut season and saw the nuts everywhere. Walnut sauce is actually a… view recipe
• Millefoglie Two Ways Millefoglie, the Italian version of the French millefeuille, is extremely popular throughout the country. For chocolate lovers, I’m including a variation made with thin layers of chocolate in place of the puff pastry. Both get filled with a rich and creamy sweet cheese filling. The filling ingredients yield enough for either 8 pastry or 8… view recipe
• Turkey Involtini This dish is a celebration showstopper with ingredients that reflect the colors of the Italian flag. The key is to have your butcher debone and butterfly a large, fresh turkey breast, leaving the skin on, and then to pound it to an even thickness for easier rolling. Ingredients 1 small yellow onion, about 4 ounces… view recipe
• Spinach and Squash Lasagna This is a flavorful meatless take on traditional lasagna. Many markets now sell fresh lasagna sheets or boxes of “no-boil” dry lasagna sheets that soften while cooking, thanks to the moisture from other ingredients. Ingredients 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use, plus more for drizzling 2 pounds whole squash or 1 3/4 pounds… view recipe
• Graziella’s Pizza di Scarola This escarole-stuffed pizza is one of the many delicious dishes that Graziella Di Mercurio cooked for us after our visit to the family mill, Frantoio Mercurius. I’ve included her dough recipe, but the results are just as flavorful when prepared with refrigerated store-bought pizza dough—you’ll need about 2 pounds. Ingredients For homemade dough: 1 1/2… view recipe
• Duccio’s Pastina Soup AKA Italian Penicillin While we waited for the magic window for harvesting, My Merry Band of Tasters and I rented a house in Toscana where we could create recipes for this Pressing Report. Duccio shared two of his favorites, including this comforting broth enriched with cheese and olive oil. Ingredients 2 medium carrots, trimmed, peeled, and cut into… view recipe
• Porchetta Spread Legend has it that porchetta, a highly seasoned and rather large pork roast, originated more than two thousand years ago in the town of Ariccia in Lazio. This zesty spread lets you savor the taste without having to make the roast—serve it with roasted chicken, pork, or vegetables. For a fabulous sandwich, lavish it on… view recipe
• Celery Leaf Bruschetta One of the many foods unique to Umbria, and nearly impossible to find anywhere else, is “black celery,” grown near the ancient town of Trevi. While not exactly black, its leaves are a much deeper and brighter green than common celery. My adaptation of the dish served at Albergo Ristorante Il Terziere includes similarly hued… view recipe

Delivered Fresh from the Southern Hemisphere A Trio of Australia’s Finest Extra Virgin Olive Oils Ready to Enhance Autumnal Meals and Celebrations

• Meticulously chosen by your Olive Oil Hunter, working hand in hand with the country’s leading artisanal producers.
• Rich in the polyphenols that impart extra virgin olive oil’s unique depth of flavor and hold the secret to so many of its health benefits.
• Rushed to the US by jet to maximize freshness and certified to be 100 percent extra virgin olive oil by an independent lab.

---

Come with me to the magical land Down Under! I make the journey to Australia at this time every year to hunt for the freshest olive oil for Club members. Oz has a dynamic New World olive culture with the opposite harvest season from the Mediterranean. Though I’ve been visiting for more than 20 years, I remain fascinated by the sights, sounds, and, of course, the aromas and tastes I encounter. As you savor each of the selections in this quarter’s trio, know that my Merry Band of Tasters and I captured the essence of Oz in these three exquisite blends.

First Stop: Melbourne

Home base for my visits is the enchanting capital of Victoria, the southeastern state with beautiful topographic variety—picturesque coastlines, alpine landscapes, and sandy deserts. The city of Melbourne is a vibrant melting pot of cultures, with impressive Italian and Asian contingents, not to mention the largest Greek community outside of Greece. Reconnecting with our producers who are also dear friends is especially fun, because we often do so around convivial tables at amazing restaurants—meals that inspired the recipes in this Pressing Report, so you, too, can savor the flavors of this country.

John and Marjan Symington of Oasis joined me and my Merry Band of Tasters as we immersed ourselves in the hustle and bustle of the Queen Victoria Market, with its wealth of vegetable and fruit merchants and cheese and fishmongers. At a stand with Australian olives—but no Australian olive oil—Marjan, president of the Goulburn Strathbogie Olive Oil Association, immediately struck up a conversation with the proprietor, suggesting he add it to his offerings ASAP!

With Mick Labbozzetta, the esteemed estate manager at Kyneton, we returned to Brunetti’s on Lygon Street, my favorite “Little Italy” neighborhood on the planet, for delicious pastries and rich coffee. When we passed a shop dedicated to cappuccino makers, we remarked at how the coffee culture in Australia has exploded—just a decade or so ago, it was barely on the radar (by contrast, sweets, as you’ll see in the dessert section of this report’s recipes, have always been top of mind!).

With Melissa Wong, my trusted Aussie advisor, food authority, and Michelin-star restauranteur, we discovered our new favorite Asian restaurant, Old Beijing, and ate our fill of Peking duck, stir fries, soup dumplings, and vibrant Chinese greens. We also indulged in local seafood at the Stokehouse in the St. Kilda Beach section of Melbourne, near Melissa’s home, a meal that starred crayfish with shellfish bisque sauce, yellowfin tuna with tomato dressing, and perfectly grilled King George whiting.

Shortages Span the Globe

While the main event of every visit to Oz is the grand tasting Melissa organizes for us to choose oils and create blends for you, my discerning Club member, that was just the beginning of what turned out to be a seven-day marathon of tastings to perfect our selections.

When I’m in Australia, I always want to check in with Leandro Ravetti, one of the world’s most respected olive authorities, to get his insights into the current season and, most important, his input on the olive oils I’m considering. Longtime friend of the club, Leandro is a master miller who champions the highest standards. He confirmed that the worldwide olive shortage had made its way around the globe and that production at many Aussie olive oil farms was down about 45 percent this season. As we saw in Europe, this has led some producers to leave their fruit to ripen until the olives are black and full of low-quality oil, in contrast to our collaborators, who harvest during the magic window—just the right moment, when the fruit is still green and at the pinnacle of flavor and health benefits. (Mass-market producers also rely on heat in the extraction process for a higher yet inferior-tasting yield.)

“As a counterpoint to Europe, which has experienced three dry years in a row, we had three wet years in a row,” Leandro explained. While he expects conditions to soon normalize, he’s always thinking ahead to avoid future problems. An ongoing concern centers on
frost, which can harm the tiny buds as they start to form. “In countries in the Southern Hemisphere, where winters are not normally very wet, like Australia, the frost risk in early spring is high,” he said.

In some areas, there can be frost at ground level while the air just above, at five to fifteen meters, is warmer. Leandro’s ingenious solution is to use special fans that draw in the warmer air to raise the ground temperature and protect the buds that will become olives. I admire the way Leandro shares his expertise with fellow producers and the deep camaraderie they enjoy—there’s no sense of one-up-manship in this country. I also value how generous Leandro is with his time when I visit, despite his having one of the most demanding schedules I’ve ever seen.

Our Olive Oil Odyssey

The magic window for harvesting was somewhat unusual this year, and certain varieties were staying green on the trees for weeks. This led to numerous tasting rounds—challenging and fun at the same time. To visit the farms we planned to work with—Oasis, Nullamunjie, and Kyneton—we embarked on a wide, 700-mile loop around Melbourne. Being right at the mills is like being a kid in a candy store, indulging in all the sweets with abandon! It’s always pure joy to spend time with the millers, sample each farm’s distinctive olive oils, and work together to perfect our blends. I invite you to taste the fruits of our labor and to catch up with our chosen producers in the pages that follow.

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

---

This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Oasis Olives, Kialla, Goulburn Valley, Victoria, Australia 2024
• Olive Varieties: Picual, Coratina
• Flavor Profile: Mild

We’re all connected to our smartphones, but during my time with John and Marjan Symington, John could barely put his down—his cell rarely stopped ringing with people looking for olive oil from his glorious farms. “Because there’s so little olive oil to go around this season, folks like us that did have olives to produce oil are very busy,”
John said candidly. “We’ve got quite a good crop in Kialla—it’s been a good season for us.”

Oasis Olives, the venture he started as a retirement passion project, seems to be keeping John busier than he was during his successful career in information technology. To say that he and Marjan have come a long way in the 14 years since they bought their first groves—on a ramshackle farm with much neglected trees—is an understatement. They recently replanted 40 hectares from the latest farm they acquired, a parcel adjacent to theirs, because a lot of those trees were so neglected. My Merry Band of Tasters and I are already looking forward to the fruit the new trees will bear.

Why is Oasis a perennial award winner? “The biggest factor that can impact the flavor profiles of olive oils is the climate,” John said. “Kialla is an environment where the trees have a very easy life in general, whereas if you go more toward South Australia, it’s a much drier climate. In other areas, where it’s very wet, the oils tend to be more washed out. This year Mother Nature gave us reasonably mild temperatures right through the growing season. We had a dry summer and dry autumn too.” Credit also goes to John and Marjan’s tenacity and their determination to produce olive oils that discerning palates, including our Club members, will love. That their kids are getting more involved in the operation brings the Symingtons a double dose of bliss.

While in Kialla, I had a chance to catch up with Scott Sanders, an international olive oil consultant who joined Oasis in 2016 and quickly became the farm manager. Scott grew up on his own family’s farm in northwest New South Wales and developed a deep love of the land. At the young age of 20, he became fascinated with the world of olive oil and “traveled to Italy and Spain to learn the art of olive oil making,” he recounted. Scott and the Symingtons share a commitment to sustainability—sheep are used to control weeds, olive pomace (what’s left of the olive flesh after milling) is a natural fertilizer for the land, and even the olive pits get a second life as a fuel source.

Because Scott felt that some varietals had it a little too easy this year, he decided to cut the irrigation to the Picual and the Coratina trees destined to be contenders for the Club in order to stress them and, in turn, bump up the polyphenols along with the flavor and aroma. “Stressing the trees also facilitates harvesting. If the trees are too ‘happy,’ they don’t want to let the fruit go,” he explained.

“Scott’s breadth of experience is incredible—he’s worked at olive mills from Australia to Spain to California,” John said. “Scott has seen a lot of different environments, a lot of different olives, so there’s not much that comes up that’s new to him.” He’s also been imparting his wisdom to Antonio and Domenico, the Italian millers who, for the past three harvests, have flown in from Puglia to run the mill. And what an olive oil this talented Oasis team has made exclusively for the Club. For the last few years, I’ve been waiting for an oil that could match the perfect—and elusive— Picual that John crafted for us many years ago. Our mild selection is early-harvest Picual at its best. Enhanced with a touch of Coratina, it hits the mark.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This is a highly aromatic blend of Picual and Coratina with amazing flair. The distinctive aromas of grass, tomato leaf, and banana are layered with hints of pear, apple, almond, oregano, sweet basil, baby lettuces, white pepper, and wheatgrass. On the palate, we noted the sweetness of dried tropical fruits and Sungold cherry tomatoes, along with lemon, hazelnut, basil, mixed spring lettuces, and the bitterness and spiciness of baby arugula. Luxurious in the mouth, it has a long, spicy finish.

You’ll love it for mild vinaigrettes, salads with fruits, tomato bruschetta, egg dishes, mild cheeses like brie and goat, yogurt and granola breakfast bowls, nutty banana bread* and muffins, chicken and leek pie, mild fin fish, crispy potatoes, pastas with fresh tomato-based sauces, glazed carrots, squash and pumpkin dishes, smoothies, and tiramisù.

*See the recipe section for bolded dishes.

---

This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: Nullamunjie Blend, Tongio, Victoria, Australia 2024
• Olive Varieties: Correggiola, Coratina, Leccino, Pendolino
• Flavor Profile: Medium

The effervescent and unstoppable Annie Paterson has owned, developed, and run the Nullamunjie farm, with its olive groves, vegetable garden, seasonal café, and sheep, since 1998. Born and reared in the Australian ranch country, as a young woman Annie traveled to Greece, where she was mesmerized by the silvery-leafed olive trees she glimpsed through the tour bus window. She dreamt of growing olives in Australia, with its similar climate. Decades later, after she and her husband had raised their four children, Annie acquired land at the foot of Mount Stalwell, in East Gippsland, with the Tambo River running through it, and made her dream a reality.

She is one of the original wave of entrepreneurs who put ultra-premium Aussie olive oil on the map—and, as the Down Under olive oil scene changes, Annie, a true pioneer, remains both stalwart and flexible, maintaining impeccable standards while incorporating innovative techniques to protect her trees and the natural world around them.

To deter cockatoos and other birds from eating olives off the trees, Annie has debuted a new sound cannon, which her crew demonstrated for me with a deep “FOOM!” As we all reflected, though, Annie is such a softie that she’ll say to an individual bird, “Oh, but I like you, you can stay.”

Speaking of staying, Annie made me laugh so hard as she described a wombat that has recently decided to live down the hill from her home. The furry, dog-sized marsupial has carved out a massive burrow beneath an old olive tree—“A cave, a cave it was; I could almost walk into it without crouching down,” exclaimed Annie—with the tree’s roots hanging down “like stalactites.” No word whether Annie is going to charge him rent.

In 2023, Annie purchased the neighboring farm, historically named Tongio Station—“The big old properties in Australia used to be called stations,” she explains—to give Nullamunjie an additional 800 acres. This season, her team planted close to 1,200 baby trees. I couldn’t wait to see them.

On our way to the farm, about four hours from Melbourne, my Merry Band of Tasters and I stopped at Bruthen Bakery to pick up goodies for the team. We brought boxes of vanilla slices and meat pies, including my favorite, a succulent steak-and-pepper pie—essentially pastry-wrapped pot roast.

Upon our arrival, operations manager Riley Nivens hopped into his 4×4 to take us around the new groves as we munched on pastries. The baby trees were almost invisible against the hills behind them, so tiny, so fragile—barely the size of corn stalks. Solar panels, elegantly arranged in a nearby clearing, captured energy from the sun to run the irrigation pumps. These baby trees won’t be mature enough to produce oil for several years, so, right now, the main concern is keeping them vertical. In spite of an electric fence, deer and kangaroos bound out of the surrounding hills and flatten the infant saplings in their path. On a daily basis, Riley inspects the rows and gingerly repositions or replants any trampled trees.

“The wonder that is Riley,” Annie praised, “he saved us all.” She added, in the style of an auto-racing commentator: “He continues to impress.” Annie alluded to the curveball that Mother Nature chucked at Nullamunjie during the growing season: torrential rainfall that knocked the blossoms off the Frantoio trees, which meant no olives. Thankfully, the other varietals—Correggiola, Leccino, Coratina, Pendolino—flowered a few weeks later and benefited from the rain.

Annie’s olives are harvested and pressed together as a “farm blend,” always recognizable as Nullamunjie olive oil, even as the flavor profile takes on different nuances and dimensions from year to year. The unique terroir gives Nullamunjie its special character and soul.

Coratina comes to the forefront in this blend, providing backbone and a hint of bitterness, indicating health-promoting polyphenols, to create a beautifully harmonious and food-friendly oil. When I asked Annie (as I always do) for her latest, greatest recipe using olive oil, she said, “I still think the best way to use olive oil is to put it on a freshly grilled steak.” We concurred that, ideally, this would be a grass-fed steak, with a little extra fat for flavor, and fresh-pressed Nullamunjie oil drizzled generously over the meat as it comes off the grill. Mmmmmmm. I hope you’ll take our recommendation and also come up with your own!

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

The fresh aromas of green grass, Belgian endive, Tuscan kale, celery, and fennel perfume this blend of Italian varietals. There are notes of oregano, rosemary, wild mint, green apple, almond, walnut, pine nut, and lemon zest. We tasted radicchio, Swiss chard, baby spinach, walnut skin, vanilla, rosemary, the astringency of green tea and lime zest, and the persistent spiciness of black peppercorns.

It will elevate crusty breads, shaved fennel and citrus salad, cheeses, and charcuterie boards. It will enhance lamb kebabs with mixed grilled vegetables,* pot roast, roasted turkey, prawn and pork fried rice, bouillabaisse, pastas with pesto, pizza, focaccia, barley and farro, lentils, white beans and other legumes, Brussels sprouts, cabbage or cauliflower steaks, vanilla ice cream, sautéed apples, lamingtons, and other desserts with chocolate.

*See the recipe section for bolded dishes.

---

This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: Kyneton Olive Oil, Bylands Estate, Victoria, Australia 2024
• Olive Varieties: Frantoio, Correggiola, Coratina, Leccino
• Flavor Profile: Bold

I first visited Kyneton, about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne, in 2009. It’s a beautiful place—I especially love the lake surrounded by palm trees. I remember when, the next year, their state-of-the-art Pieralisi mill was installed. Ever since, it’s been an upward trajectory, as Kyneton’s premier oils have won multiple awards in Australia and abroad. Kyneton is always poised to upgrade the mill and other equipment, but the most recent enhancements added to the beauty of the landscape: a newly built gazebo, wood-fired oven, and fire pit. My only regret was not arriving one day sooner. I was dismayed to learn I’d just missed homemade porchetta sandwiches—dang!

Food—including olive oil, of course—is one of the things estate manager Mick Labbozzetta and I have bonded over. For years, Mick, always wearing his trademark newsboy cap, has introduced me, one by one, to his favorite salumerias, formaggerias, pizzerias, and gelaterias, a reflection of Australia’s large Italian population. Naturally, we bring a bottle of fresh-pressed olive oil to drizzle everywhere we go. (I don’t consider an oil properly vetted unless I’ve paired it with a variety of foods. I urge you to do the same, dear Club member!)

Mick’s love of Italian delights comes naturally. His father was born in Calabria, Italy, and was among a large wave of Italian immigrants who arrived on the Australian continent in the mid-twentieth century. In an ode to his homeland, Papa planted about 20 olive trees on the family’s property. Born in this country and raised in Adelaide, Mick speaks fluent Italian thanks to his dad, whose birthplace Mick will be visiting this fall. Family means the world to Mick, and, though he has no intention of retiring, all his improvements at Kyneton, which include building his impressive team, are with his grandchildren in mind, to bring them into this very special world.

As a boy, Mick picked the olives from his dad’s trees. The olives were then pressed by a neighbor. Today, the Kyneton mill is trusted to press the olives of local farmers. Testament to Kyneton’s skills and
passion for olive cultivation, the team recently took over the management of a nearby olive grove of 14,000 trees, primarily Koroneiki and Frantoio. The owner would bring his olives for pressing, but the yield didn’t match the size of the grove—indicating that the trees needed tending. These are very small trees, Mick told me, that will undoubtedly thrive from the TLC that the Kyneton team will lavish on them—my mouth is already watering in anticipation!

Mick is quick to deflect praise for the estate’s successes to his team, headed by native Calabrian Carmelo Tramontana and the peripatetic Davide Bruno, a master miller who travels from Liguria each year to oversee the harvest. This year, they were joined for the first time by Arturo Morara, another—you guessed it—Italian. With experience working at Italian mills, Arturo explained to me that he had been looking for an opportunity to hone his talents on an Australian olive farm during the harvest, in effect doubling the amount of experience he was gaining each year. Kyneton was a natural fit. I’m convinced this intersection of New and Old World techniques and sensibilities makes Kyneton oils special. “Australian made, Italian heritage” is the company’s very apt motto. The addition of a team member did not manage to reduce anyone’s hours—20-hour days are still the norm during the harvest to create the exquisite olive oils for which the farm is known.

My Merry Band of Tasters and I had a scandalously good time perfecting the blend I’ve selected for you, primarily because we had so many great options to work with this year—small batches of different varietals harvested at different times and blended in different proportions, all fresh from the mill. Davide and his team constantly monitored the trees, identifying which olives were at their peak. Davide has a sixth sense about these drupes, and, on occasion, his intuition even overrides the lab’s ripeness analyses. After five years of collaboration, he understands what flavor and aroma profiles I want for my Club members and in my own kitchen. I can’t wait for you to taste this bold liquid gold.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

A vibrant blend of Aussie-grown Italian varietals, it entices with aromas of kale, arugula, fennel, chopped culinary herbs, and hazelnut, and hints of green bell pepper, lime zest, green peppercorns, and tomato vine. We tasted fennel, artichoke, Belgian endive, dried banana, green walnut, parsley, thyme, dried chiles, the freshness of wild mint and citrus peel, and the spiciness and bitterness of watercress.

This oil will enhance aged and blue cheeses, Caesar salad, Asian mushroom salad with ginger tamari vinaigrette,* grilled steaks and chops, apricot chicken, pan-seared fish steaks with caramelized fennel, sardines, curries, Tex-Mex chili, pasta Bolognese, stuffed peppers, green beans, kale dishes, holiday stuffings, bok choy and Chinese broccoli, black beans, hearty soups and stews, carrot cake, and nut-based desserts.

*See the recipe section for bolded dishes.

---

Olive Oil and Health

---

Kudos from Club Members

---

Recipes

• Apricot Chicken It’s said that the Australian version of apricot chicken, whose simple ingredients were apricot nectar, a packet of dried French onion soup, and chicken parts, became popular in the 1970s; many adults Down Under grew up on it. My version takes more of a “from-scratch” approach for richer flavor. Ingredients 1/2 cup whole wheat flour… view recipe
• Grilled Prawns and Spicy Papaya Cocktail Sauce Australia’s temperate climates host warm-water prawns (similar to shrimp) and tropical fruits such as papaya. This recipe brings them together and will inspire you to ditch the familiar ketchup-and-horseradish sauce often served in the US. Also good with lobster (called “bugs” in Oz) or scallops. Ingredients For the cocktail sauce: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive… view recipe
• Curried Cauliflower This is one of the easiest side dishes in my repertoire. Because curry powder is a blend of nearly a dozen spices or more (some of which are fairly exotic), feel free to use your favorite pre-packaged curry powder. Ingredients 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon curry powder 1 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea)… view recipe
• Tiramisù Though tiramisù originated in Italy in the late 1960s, it didn’t take long for it to gain a legion of fans in Oz, especially in Sydney, where it’s said to have first appeared on menus in the ’70s. Because of concern about eating raw eggs, this version leaves them out, but it is no less… view recipe
• Lamingtons This sweet morsel—a vanilla cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut—is a beloved celebratory treat in Australia. There are many variations, including spreading a jam filling between two layers of cake, but this version is the easiest to make. The olive oil-based cake is light and airy, a wonderful counterpoint to the luscious… view recipe
• Chicken and Leek Pie The Australian take on American-style potpie gets wonderful flavor from the leeks and onions. Feel free to add 1/2 cup each peas and diced carrots if you wish. Ingredients 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, plus more for rolling the dough 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for the vegetables 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper… view recipe
• Pan-Seared Fish Steaks with Carmelized Fennel Easy enough for a weeknight dinner but elegant enough for guests, this meal, featuring what I like to call “steak fish,” comes together in less than half an hour. Use halibut, tuna, salmon, monkfish, cod, or swordfish. Ingredients Juice of 1 lemon, preferably a Meyer lemon Coarse salt (kosher or sea) 1 teaspoon dried oregano,… view recipe
• Lamb Kebabs with Mixed Vegetables Lamb is an Aussie favorite, and over 90 percent of Australian sheep are grassfed. Most recipes for lamb kebabs call for an overnight marinade. But we prefer a technique called “dry brining.” Meat is seasoned with salt, which mixes with the meat’s natural juices on the surface through osmosis and is then absorbed into the… view recipe
• Prawn and Pork Fried Rice Asian cuisine abounds in Australia, and this dish is one of my favorites! Fried rice is a kitchen-sink kind of meal—a great way to use up veggies and any leftovers you have, so feel free to augment the ingredients with whatever you have on hand. Ingredients 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more as… view recipe
• Crispy Potatoes The only trick to this delicious side dish is to not crowd the potatoes—you’ll get better browning and crisping if you leave some space between the slices. Use two rimmed sheet pans if needed. Ingredients 2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and dried 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more for… view recipe

A Trio of Deliciously Distinctive Chilean Olive Oils from the Country’s Premier Artisanal Producer Perfect for Your Summer Table

• Each olive oil in this collection is a custom blend of outstanding varietals and unique in its own way.
• Created to enhance summer’s bounty, these oils will elevate every one of your seasonal dishes.
• All three were certified by an independent lab to be 100 percent extra virgin olive oil and rushed to the US by jet to preserve their tantalizing flavors and healthful properties.
• These are Club exclusives, available nowhere else.

---

After dozens of trips to the Southern Hemisphere over nearly two decades, this intrepid traveler remains fascinated with South America and Chile in particular. Whenever I touch down in Santiago, I’m pleasantly reminded that there’s no jet lag from any time zone change, only the curious feeling of having the season I left up north turned upside down.

This year was quite special for your Olive Oil Hunter, because my wife Meghan and I visited Chile twice. A bucket-list vacation, a cruise to the Antarctic Peninsula, took us there in late January, when I witnessed the emergence of olives on tree branches at Agricola Pobeña, the farm of the Alonso family in Chile’s O’Higgins region—I immediately began to think of them as my babies. When I saw them again in May, they were at harvest plumpness. In between the two visits, an unusual series of natural events occurred, and I fretted about them just as any new parent would.

A Literal Firestorm

Only days after we left the olive groves in January, the worst wildfire in Chilean history burned through 18,000 hectares (roughly 70 square miles) of the Valparaiso, Maule, and O’Higgins regions. It’s hard enough to read about a tragedy of this scale as an outsider, but when you have friends who are directly impacted, it’s devastating. While Juanjo Alonso and his team worried about their neighbors and their land, we worried about them.

The wildfire unfolded against the backdrop of the continuing olive oil crisis raging through Europe, the details of which I have shared with you in my two previous Pressing Reports. I knew that Chilean oils were going to be more in demand than ever before because of the shortage in the Old World, due to the decimated 2023–2024 European harvest.

I also knew the cascading effect this would have: many Chilean olive growers would opt for quantity over quality and take measures like using heat and other mass-market extraction techniques to increase production for a quick profit…but not the Alonso family. I was confident that our close relationship and their commitment to creating the finest olive oils in the country would allow me to secure the liquid gold that Club members adore.

A Step—Many Steps—Above

From day one, more than 15 years ago, Juanjo (short for Juan José) and the team at Agricola Pobeña set their sights on crafting super-premium olive oils. To set themselves apart from other growers, they brought together these essential elements: an expansive farm with numerous microclimates suitable for a very wide selection of olive varietals, top-of-the line equipment, and some of the most skilled agronomists on the planet, led by Juan Carlos Pérez, the man in charge of Agricola Pobeña’s vast acreage. These are the core reasons they’re consistently named one of the top 20 producers in the world by Flos Olei, the bible of extra virgin olive oil.

Just as the wildfire and increasingly peculiar weather patterns would not distract
them from their mandate, neither would the global olive oil shortage. And that’s why, for the second year in a row, three oils from Agricola Pobeña’s olives, each oil distinct, are the Club’s Chilean selections. Together, they represent a luscious range of varietals and reflect the meticulous crafting skills of my trusted Merry Band of Tasters, including EVOO authority Duccio Morozzo della Rocca and Chilean experts Juan Carlos Pérez and Denise Langevin. Longstanding Club members know them well, and you can catch up with them in the pages that follow.

A Food Evolution

In many ways, Agricola Pobeña’s approach to quality mirrors the recent interest in health-conscious eating of many younger Chileans. Thanks to the

Alonso family’s two local olive oil stores focused on educating consumers, you can argue that they’ve helped contribute to the dietary changes. “It used to be that if there wasn’t a protein on your plate, it wasn’t a real meal,” Juanjo told me. “Over the last five years, meat has become very expensive, and that helped open people’s minds to the idea that we don’t need to eat meat every day. We can have dishes like ceviche de porotos negros as a main course.” We enjoyed that dish of marinated black beans (it’s in the recipe section, so you, too, can savor it) at Cervecería Rural, a brew pub you’d expect to find in Santiago proper, but which is in the countryside. A lot of young families left the capital during the pandemic and moved to smaller towns, fell in love with them, and decided to stay. This created new opportunities for restaurants of all cuisines. Of course, Santiago itself is now considered an international food capital.

Sushi, increasingly popular thanks to the region’s abundance of seafood, has been elevated to new heights at the restaurant Karai by Mitsuharu in the W Hotel, known for its Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine and some of the best nigiri I’ve ever had—chef Mitsuharu Tsumura is consistently ranked as one of the top chefs in Latin America. Fresh markets are getting a new spin of their own. Just outside of Santiago, the Mercado Urbano Tobalaba, known simply as MUT, is a lively mixed-use building that combines culture, cuisine, and sustainability—there are more restaurants than I had meals in which to try them! All my culinary experiences informed both the classic and the innovative dishes offered in this issue’s recipe section, featuring quintessential Chilean ingredients like beans, potatoes, corn, and avocado. I invite you to savor them with family and friends along with this quarter’s oils!

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

---

This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Denise Langevin Exclusive Selection, Agricola Pobeña, Comuna de La Estrella, O’Higgins Region, Chile 2024
• Olive Varieties: Arbequina, Koroneiki
• Flavor Profile: Mild

I always look forward to reuniting with Denise Langevin when I’m in Chile. As most Club members know, she’s an acclaimed international olive oil judge—in fact, she had just received 45 samples to grade and score remotely as one of 12 judges of the Monte Carlo Masters Olive Oil International Competition. Her nose and olive oil sensibility are exceptional, and I find her input when crafting Club selections invaluable. Yet I also enjoy simply spending time with her and her husband Luis and immersing myself in the Chilean way of life.

Denise welcomed us into her home on her late grandfather’s farm, where she raises crops. It’s an idyllic setting about an hour south of Santiago, framed by the snow-capped Andes. This is a rich agricultural area, well known for its cherries, which are shipped around the world. Denise had just replanted alfalfa, explaining that it can grow for five years at a stretch, then needs to be pulled so that the soil can have a yearlong rest. We know how painstaking the process of growing olives can be, but the challenge she faced was a surprising one: her latest farm addition, a sheep dubbed Pio Aurelio, had strayed from his grass-maintenance duties and eaten all the leaves from her newly planted, tender olive saplings. A stern reprimand followed, and his fate as a groundskeeper is currently in limbo.

After a trip to the local market for provisions—one of my favorite things to do wherever I travel—we sat down for a fabulous lunch that showcased land and sea. Denise prepared salmon tartare with lemon juice, chives, and avocado on lettuce, while Luis was in charge of a prime rib. The perfectly roasted meat was accompanied by a wonderful assortment of potatoes. There are 4,000 varieties in the Andes region! We feasted on white potatoes roasted with rosemary and olive oil and also on three varieties Denise had recently brought back from a trip to nearby Chiloé Island, each with its own distinctive flavor: a sweet purple one reminiscent of a Peruvian tater; a fat fingerling with a deep earthy flavor; and a sweet one with almost floral notes. With all three of this quarter’s olive oil selections on the dining table, we lavished them on each dish, noting how well they paired with the food.

Denise’s love of the earth and sustainable farming led her to expand the educational program she developed for local children from one to two primary schools—she teaches youngsters about healthy farm-to-table eating in a fun way they can understand, like growing their own vegetables in boxes made by Luis and visiting farms to learn about different plants, including a nut farm at harvest time. Plans include taking the kids to an olive mill during next year’s harvest to help them develop an appreciation for making fresh-pressed olive oil. It remains to be seen whether the kids will become as consumed as I am with details like the size of Koroneiki olives (I was delighted that this year’s crop had a much higher pulp-to-pit ratio) or how many Arbequinas must be sampled before the best one can be chosen, but, with Denise guiding them, they’re sure to have an early appreciation for their country’s dazzling olive oils.

This quarter’s mild oil embodies Denise’s personality, a gentle oil from a gentle woman—sweet, generous, and harmonious. It’s 90 percent Arbequina, from different parts of the Agricola Pobeña farm, and 10 percent Koroneiki, which brings out the characteristics of the Arbequina and makes for a beautiful, long finish with a crescendo of flavor. When expert tasters are evaluating olive oils, they often communicate with each other using non-spoken language. This is how I always feel when working with Denise. Duccio summed it up well: “It’s a great experience to taste with Denise—when you work with someone who knows how to taste olive oils, you have a different way of communicating. You share sensations and perceptions—you don’t even need words, the discussion is more telepathic, their expressions, their eyes can tell you so much. The collaboration evolves from seeing each other’s reactions.” I know you’ll be as pleased with the results as I am.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

A deliciously full-flavored mild oil, this is a beautiful expression of Chilean-grown Arbequina and Koroneiki. It embodies the aromas of green grass, banana, Belgian endive, lettuce, walnut, cinnamon, citrus zest, nasturtium, white peppercorns, and fresh mint. On the palate, there’s the nuttiness of walnut, the bitterness of green tea and baby arugula, the sweetness of vanilla, and the lingering spiciness of celery leaf and white pepper.

It will elevate sweet corn gazpacho with avocado crema* and other fresh corn dishes; fruit salads; homemade mayonnaise and aioli; eggs, chicken, and pork; cod and other white fish, shrimp, and lobster; paella and other rice dishes; roasted parmesan carrots and other root vegetables; fruity vinaigrettes; and dulce de leche sundaes and yogurt parfaits.

*See the recipe section for bolded dishes.

---

This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: El Agrónomo, Agricola Pobeña, Comuna de La Estrella, O’Higgins Region, Chile 2024
• Olive Varieties: Frantoio, Leccino, Coratina, Nocellara del Belice
• Flavor Profile: Medium

El Agrónomo.” Sounds like the name of a bestseller, a hit movie, or a caped superhero, doesn’t it?

Actually, the latter isn’t far off the mark. This beautiful extra virgin olive oil pays homage to Agricola Pobeña’s heroic agronomist, Juan Carlos Pérez. This is the fourth year in a row we have recognized Juan Carlos’ Marvel-caliber skills with an eponymous oil.

In 2009, the Alonso family closed on the land they purchased near La Estrella to establish a top-tier olive farm. There was so much to be done, as Juanjo Alonso will tell you. One of the first priorities was to hire an agronomist. Now, there’s a long-running joke in Chile that you can’t throw an avocado without hitting an agronomist. What Juanjo didn’t know at the time was that even a weak underhanded pitch over the property’s fenceline could’ve introduced him to one of the most capable and experienced agronomists in Chile. As it was, Juan Carlos (who was literally working on the adjacent farm) made the first move by cold-calling Juanjo. The rest is history. How fortuitous for everyone involved, including us, dear Club member!

Now celebrating his fifteenth year with Agricola Pobeña, Juan Carlos characterizes it as a “successful marriage” and jokes that he’s no longer peeking over fences. Currently, he oversees some 1,100 acres of mixed olive varietals. We imagine he was quite offended when, early in his tenure, a visiting Italian consultant advised diluting all the oils, regardless of variety, to mute and homogenize their flavors for the mass market. (Juanjo told me this story.) Imagine! That would be like seasoning your food with five jars of spice, all of them containing the same flavorless thing. Anyway, Agricola Pobeña’s very distinctive oils were defiantly entered that year into a competition where they won awards. The first of many, I might add. Including inclusion in Flos Olei’s prestigious top 20.

Juan Carlos is justifiably proud of the amazing range of flavors he has been able to extract from the trees by capitalizing on the farm’s many microclimates. (This is how I can select for you three unique oils from the same property. The combinations and permutations are nearly endless.) But the pressure is on, year after year. “Show me the fruit!” succinctly summarizes Juan Carlos’ job. Because only with outstanding olive fruit can you make outstanding olive oils.

This year was peculiar for a number of reasons. Fortunately, the stranglehold of the “megadrought” that’s been plaguing Chile for more than a decade appears to have been broken. (Fingers crossed.) The lake, which holds the equivalent of 400 Olympic-size swimming pools, was replenished by Mother Nature. This gave Juan Carlos water management options he hasn’t had for years, as conservation was always the goal. He seems to know exactly how much water each of his “children” needs to thrive, even concerning himself with the size of the pits—charmingly, he calls them “bones.” The pulp-to-pit ratio of an olive is important, of course.

The Chilean spring was fleeting this year and unusually cool, segueing awkwardly into a hot summer. Temperatures soared to 103 degrees in some areas, enabling catastrophic wildfires, at least two of which reached the farm. (Read more above.)

Because of the abbreviated spring, blossoms were slower to form, delaying the harvest season by two weeks to a month, depending on the olive variety. El Agrónomo tirelessly toured the groves to gauge ripeness: I doubt he got much sleep.

Ever elusive, the “magic window” I chase each harvest season shrank significantly. (“Magic window” is my euphemism for the optimal moment to pick and mill the olives.) I wasn’t sure when to book my travel. As it turned out, my timing was perfect! Though under the threat of frost, my Merry Band of Tasters and I blended and secured for you these stunning and complex olive oils. Thank you, El Agrónomo, and the rest of the incomparable team at Agricola Pobeña! We will think of you as we splash this magnificently fresh oil on summer produce!

Never content to rest on his laurels (or anywhere else, for that matter), Juan Carlos is already looking ahead, eager to plant new tree stock, oversee the digging of new and deeper wells, begin pruning for robust tree health, and start renovations on select tracts of the groves. Always in the back of his mind are the motivating words, “Show me the fruit!”

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

This complex blend of Italian varietals has a Southern Hemisphere personality! On the nose, our tasters perceived almond, green apple, artichoke, Tuscan kale, black pepper, and chopped culinary herbs—rosemary, thyme, and oregano. On the palate, we noted the pleasant nuttiness of green almond and hazelnut together with fennel, sage and wild oregano, chicory and microgreens, the bitterness of arugula, and the spiciness of black pepper.

Splash this dazzling oil on pizza; tomato-based pasta dishes; cold orzo, couscous, and whole grains; caprese salad, fennel, oranges and black olives, and salads with nuts; and crudité and charcuterie platters. It will enhance beef, lamb, and duck; quinoa and black bean burgers* and other legume dishes; smashed potato canapes with smoked salmon; crusty breads and focaccia; and chiffon cake batters.

---

This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: Alonso, Agricola Pobeña, Comuna de La Estrella, O’Higgins Region, Chile 2024
• Olive Varieties: Picual, Koroneiki
• Flavor Profile: Bold

My Merry Band of Tasters and I always enjoy time spent with Juanjo Alonso, who oversees the family’s extraordinary olive farm, Agricola Pobeña. Juanjo’s positive energy, zest for life, and passion for producing olive oils of the highest quality make him very fun (and inspiring) to be around.

Many Club members may remember how the Alonso family came to be one of Chile’s top olive oil producers: Abel Alonso, the patriarch of the clan, arrived in Chile as a refugee from Spain’s Basque country. He became a successful entrepreneur in his adopted country but retained strong ties to his homeland. Nearing retirement, the father of five dreamed of establishing an olive grove and mill that produced world-class extra virgin olive oils, a legacy for his children and their progeny. But where to start?

Cue Juanjo, who was completing an advanced degree in fine arts and polishing his surfing skills off the California coast. Before you could say, “Hang ten,” Juanjo was home, searching for suitable land. He found it in the fertile O’Higgins region. (Local dowsers confirmed the presence of water, a non-negotiable condition of the sale.)

You might wonder why a young man would sacrifice his own plans for his father’s vision. Loyalty to home, a concept known as exte, is important in the Basque culture. Juanjo and his siblings wanted to make Abel’s dream a reality, come hell or high water. Both arrived this year.

It was a nightmarish scene when wildfires struck the region the first week in February— just after my January visit. (The fires were not unexpected, given the Chilean summer’s blistering hot temperatures and the air’s low humidity.) Juanjo and his team had three hours to prepare for the conflagration. Just after 8:30 p.m., the wind-driven flames reached the farm. Armed with shovels and flanked by tractors towing tanks of water, the men fought the fire all night long and into the next day, building firewalls and frantically beating out errant embers—easy to see in the dark, Juanjo said. Deliriously tired, one of Juanjo’s men (“Jimmy”) mindlessly parked his truck just a few feet from the leading edge of the fire. Alarmed, Juanjo insisted Jimmy get a few hours of rest before returning. “You’re a hero,” Juanjo told him. “You saved the farm!”

While much of the 1,100-acre property was at risk, including valuable 10- to 12-year-old trees, the fire damage was happily restricted to less than 20 acres. At some point on the second day, the flames leapfrogged over the groves. Juanjo then dispatched his team to save local houses.

Always the optimist, Juanjo expects winter rains, like the drought-busting ones that fell on Central Chile this past season, will quickly rejuvenate the scorched trees. The rainfall-dependent farm also needs to replenish its 55-acre lake (see the photo above) and two reservoirs. In the meantime, the family is digging more wells in the bedrock to ensure their precious olive trees have enough water for years to come. The Alonso family is definitely playing the long game.

Juanjo and I discussed this during my last visit to the Pobeña farm. He noted the opportunities for greater profits, now that a global shortage of olive oil has doubled or tripled its prices and producers in his country are being courted by a handful of bulk buyers in Spain and Italy. “The bad guys came to Chile,” he said ominously, meaning that the focus continues to shift from quality to quantity. The Alonso family will continue its unwavering commitment to premium olive oils and valued customers by reinvesting profits, he assured me.

From the very beginning, he said, his father insisted on investing in the best. An example? Juanjo shared the story of his 2009 visit to Italy to check out milling equipment, something he admits he knew nothing about at the time. (An advantage, as it turns out.) But he was most impressed by the oils milled with machinery from Alfa Laval, a high-end Swedish manufacturer. On the trip home, he pondered how to sell this option to his father. (“Because I wasn’t the owner of the money!” Juanjo joked.) But, after asking a few pointed questions, Abel endorsed the purchase—a great one, in hindsight, as the equipment has been issuing award-winning oils for many years. You’re about to taste one of them!

Now approaching 90, Abel (who still visits the farm occasionally) and the rest of the family are extremely proud to know their finest oils are reaching discerning palates like yours, dear Club member. I’m thrilled with this intriguing blend, and can’t wait for you to try it!

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This vibrant, early-harvest Picual, complemented by a splash of Koroneiki, is a robust expression of these varietals. Its intense, intoxicating aroma is redolent of tomato leaf, celery, wheatgrass, baby spinach, kiwi, pear, parsley, basil, and wild mint. Sense the healthful polyphenols dancing on your palate. This olive oil is rich with notes of celery, kale, rosemary, and walnuts; the bitterness of radicchio and lime zest; the fruitiness of green apple and pear; and the spiciness of Sichuan peppercorns and ginger root…with a long and persistent finish.

It’s perfect with panzanella and other tomato-based salads and sauces; flank steak with avocado chimichurri* and other grilled beef; grilled leg of lamb basted with salt water; tuna, salmon, and octopus; mushrooms, grilled radicchio, and green beans; wild rice; and chocolate-based desserts like mousse and brownies.

*See the recipe section for bolded dishes.

---

Olive Oil and Health

---

Kudos from Club Members

---

Recipes

• Cordero al Asador with Herbed Salmuera (Grilled Leg of Lamb Basted with Salt Water) South Americans usually take a simple approach to their meats. This salt- and herb-based liquid, called salmuera (the precursor to chimichurri), was used by gauchos, the nomadic cowboys of South America, to baste proteins when cooking over live fire. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups water 2 tablespoons coarse salt (kosher or sea) 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly… view recipe
• Eggs with Basquois Piperade Piperade, a vegetable stew–like concoction popular in Basque country (which straddles northern Spain and southern France) is similar to Sicilian caponata or Middle Eastern shakshuka. This version is from the Alonso family, whose patriarch is Basque, though he has lived in Chile for many years. Instead of scrambling the eggs, you can break them right… view recipe
• Brunch Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime-Mint Vinaigrette For a bright brunch dish, serve the dressed fruit salad over thick Greek yogurt or Icelandic skyr. Ingredients 4 cups mixed fruit, such as chunks of melon and mango, sliced strawberries, red grapes, blueberries, and pineapple cubes 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons honey, preferably orange blossom Zest and juice of 1 medium lime … view recipe
• Smashed Potato Canapes with Smoked Salmon We’ve all eaten smoked salmon on bagels or toast points, but for something different, try this delicacy on crispy smashed potatoes. In place of smoked salmon, use salmon roe or another domestic caviar. Elegant! Ingredients For the potatoes: 12 small Yukon gold potatoes, each about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter Extra virgin olive… view recipe
• Bell Pepper “Empanadas” This take on empanadas de queso is perfect when you want melted cheesy goodness but would rather skip the dough. Preferred in Chile is the very buttery queso chanco, a cheese that’s close in taste and texture to our Muenster. Though not traditional in empanadas, merquén adds a nice zest (you can substitute pimentón if it’s… view recipe
• Sweet Corn Gazpacho with Avocado Crema This unusual twist on gazpacho takes advantage of tender sweet corn at its peak. As you’ll see from the recipe, we’re emphasizing corn’s gorgeous yellow color. When buying, look for ears with fresh stems (like cut flowers)—not brown or dessicated. Like flowers, you can recut the ends and store the ears upright in sugared water… view recipe
• Ceviche de Porotos Negros (Black Bean Ceviche) I enjoyed this dish at the wonderful Cervecería Rural in Litueche. It’s a salad of black beans (red kidney beans make a great alternative) dressed in the style of a ceviche marinade. Some versions have all the ingredients tossed together, but Rural’s chef presented it as a beautifully composed salad. Ingredients For the dressing: 1… view recipe
• Roasted Chicken with Mango and Nut Salsa Roasted chicken is the little black dress of the table, welcome on the menu of a dinner party or a weeknight meal. The following bright-tasting salsa is also terrific with fish, a popular entrée in Chile, a country with over 2,000 miles of Pacific coastline. Dice the vegetables extra fine and serve the salsa with… view recipe
• Flank Steak with Avocado Chimichurri To make this lean cut of beef tender, three steps are needed: a long marination, a fast grilling, and slicing against the grain—in the opposite direction of its meat fibers. Ingredients For the steak: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea) 1/2 teaspoon freshly… view recipe
• Roasted Parmesean Carrots This might be my new favorite way to eat carrots, which, like most vegetables, grow huge in Central Chile’s fertile soil. Marinated in olive oil and spices, then coated in freshly grated Parmesan cheese, the carrots are roasted until tender. They’re great with chicken, pork, or lamb. Ingredients 8 large carrots, peeled and trimmed 3… view recipe

Presenting Andalucían Delights: A Trio of Fantástico Olive Oils—Exquisite Elixirs from Spain

• These Club exclusives, available to no one else, are the finest artisanal oils of the Iberian harvest.
• Redolent with vibrant, herbaceous aromas and palate-pleasing tastes to match, these early harvest Andalucían oils are from award-winning farms and custom blended for you by your Olive Oil Hunter.
• Independently lab certified to be 100 percent extra virgin, they’ve been rushed to our shores by jet at their peak of flavor and to preserve their zesty polyphenols.

---

Against all odds. That’s what this year’s hunt for superb Spanish extra virgin olive oil felt like. With every olive pressing there’s an air of mystery, anticipation, and even drama. But this year, as I landed in this beautiful Andalucían country, I felt as though I was walking into a new season of True Detective, rife with intrigue. Olive oil is the heart and soul of Spanish culture and cuisine, and some people will stop at nothing to get their hands on it.

News reports of olive production being cut in half (or worse) because of the continuing drought in Spain were overtaken by front-page stories about the criminal consequences of the shortage: Thieves—ladrones—not only ripped 100-year-old olive trees out by their roots (when they weren’t content with sawing off olive-laden branches) but also stole tens of thousands of liters of oil from tanks in mills (easier, because all the work had been done for them). Some unscrupulous characters passed off seed oil, artificially colored to look more like EVOO. Others supplemented ordinary olive oil with inferior-quality lampante, so named because it was once used to light oil lamps. As an olive oil aficionado, you, my dear Club member, can tell the difference, but people who don’t yet appreciate the unique aroma and taste of ultra-premium, fresh-pressed olive oil may easily fall victim to these scams.

Rest assured that you have in your hands the proverbial cream of the crop—three magnificent olive oils, delivered to your door thanks to the combined efforts of my Merry Band of Tasters and me and our outstanding Spanish producers. Despite the crisis they are living through, with even mediocre oils selling for triple the price of just three years ago, the three masters we worked with on this curated collection came through for us. Indeed, I’ve known two of them for nearly 20 years—since I created the Club, in 2005—and they don’t want to disappoint you any more than I do.

Here Comes the (Burning Hot) Sun

Top artisanal farms almost always use the latest irrigation techniques to compensate for drought conditions and take extraordinary measures to quickly transport just-picked olives from the grove to the mill, keeping them cool at every stage of the process. This preserves their aromas, taste, and healthful polyphenols. But a weather catastrophe happened relatively early in the growing cycle this season—and for many producers, there was no coming back.

When I toured the Finca Gálvez mill with my dear friend Jose Gálvez, he explained that early rains had spurred the growth of fantastic olive blossoms. “Everyone anticipated a great crop, but then at the start of spring we experienced temperatures you would expect to have in early summer. That hot sun burned 70 percent of the blossoms, and they fell off the trees,” he said, adding that Jaén, the Andalucían province where Finca Gálvez is located, experienced the worst of it. “Even though we had relatively normal weather after that, we cannot create new blossoms—we knew that the harvest was going to be only a third of normal.”

In an attempt to satisfy orders, we heard that many commercial mills in Spain opted for heat extraction to get more oil from the fruit, a process that lowers quality because it essentially cooks the olive paste. They also set stratospheric prices for what they were able to produce, telling clients, “Here’s my floor price and I’ll wait for your offers,” just like at an auction—they were announcing a starting point for negotiation. This means that consumers buying EVOO in stores will be paying higher prices for lesser-quality oil.

A Topsy-Turvy Season

Under normal conditions, Andalucía provides 30 to 50 percent of the world’s olive oil. In this upside-down year, rather than exporting its oil to Italy—which, to the surprise of many people, doesn’t produce enough to satisfy local demand—Spain had to buy oil from Italy. Consider, too, that only a third of Spain’s production is extra virgin—premium producers make up only a small niche, and this year, they represented barely a dot. There wasn’t going to be much ultra- premium olive oil to go around. But thanks to the mutual admiration that our partners and I have for each other, the longevity of our collaborations, and your appreciation of their liquid gold, they were ready, willing, and able to allocate their finest for you, dear Club members.

I love that all the trials and tribulations we go through have a silver lining. This quarter it was crafting our exceptional Castillo de Canena Arbequina, our Picual created from olives grown at various elevations at Finca Gálvez to give it a complex taste profile, and our magnificent García Torres Hojiblanco with a healthy addition of the rare Picudo—co-creator Luis Torres describes this season’s Picudo oil as the best he’s tasted in his 23-year career.

Why do certain olives produce a spicier oil from one year to another? It’s all thanks to Mother Nature. Francisco “Paco” Vañó of Canena shared this observation with me when we were able to compare impressions: “If someone promises you the same oil profile every year, don’t trust them—every year you’re going to be surprised by different flavors and aromas from the same olives grown by the same producers.” That kind of surprise is, in fact, a delight to true olive oil lovers.

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

---

This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Castillo de Canena, Selección Especial, Jaén, Andalucía, Spain
• Olive Varieties: Arbequina
• Flavor Profile: Mild

Over the years, I have amassed thousands of photos chronicling my many visits to the Iberian Peninsula in pursuit of the finest, freshest extra virgin olive oils. But my most treasured images—call them memories—are in my mind: the massive black metal bulls (originally erected along highways to promote Osborne brandy) that have become iconic symbols of Spain; the fabulous road food at gas stations, such as salty olive oil–roasted Marcona almonds and bocatas (sandwiches); or calçots, elongated green onions charred in ovens fueled with olive wood and served on clay tiles with garlicky romesco sauce.

But the views, my first from the balcony of the Renaissance-era castle known as Castillo de Canena, are among my favorite early memories of Spain. Gazing at the landscape below, I saw nothing but olive trees, draping the hills like sage green corduroy cloth. These storied trees, I thought to myself, are the glory, the very soul of Andalucía.

I first encountered Francisco “Paco” Vaño at the Fancy Food Show in New York City about 20 years ago. He and his sister, Rosa, had recently left high-profile corporate jobs to reimagine their family’s centuries-old olive oil business. (It was founded in 1780.) They dedicated themselves to producing ultra-premium olive oils, a rare and relatively under-appreciated commodity at that time. When we met, Paco had only two olive harvests under his belt, but I made sure I was on site for the third.

I’ve been going back to Castillo de Canena ever since. (The fifteenth-century castle mentioned above is actually the Vaño family’s home. It was declared a National Artistic Monument in 1931.)

When asked recently what he remembered about our first fortuitous meeting, Paco sheepishly revealed he was a bit skeptical when I explained my concept of a Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club to him. Though he admired my enthusiasm and passion, he admitted he had quiet doubts that Americans—most raised on the chemically refined oils labeled “light”—would accept the more robust aromas and flavors of premium extra virgin olive oils. “I’m so glad I was wrong!” he exclaimed. Me, too!

From the beginning, Paco and I had the same goal: to introduce discerning palates
to the joys of premium fresh-pressed extra virgin olive oils. He has been a magnificent collaborator and friend for the past two decades, delighting my Club members with exclusive olive oils and never failing to impress me with his monastic dedication to his craft.

He is one of the most knowledgeable and innovative olive oil producers in the
world, constantly developing and/or employing clever strategies to improve his family’s award-winning oils. Though he’s not afraid to make bold changes—like the stunning stucco-and-metal state-of-the-art mill he built three years ago—it might be the smaller, incremental improvements he implements every year that make Castillo de Canena’s oils consistently extraordinary. During this harvest season, Paco added a fourth production line to expedite the handling of just-picked olives (multiple lines also mean opportunities for experimentation) and installed
a water-cooled pipeline that
transports the olive pulp from
the crusher to the malaxer.

The fact that Paco and his team—principally, farm manager Álvaro Pulido Garrido and quality control supervisor Mariela Chova Martínez—were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat during this challenging harvest year was no surprise to me. Paco estimates that warm temperatures in early spring scorched approximately 80 percent of the flowers in his groves, with the Picual being hit harder than the Arbequina, which formed buds about a week earlier. To preemptively protect the nascent olives that survived, he supplemented the trees’ water ration with water purchased from local rice farmers. This was a first, he said. But it was a brilliant move, as this season’s Arbequina proves.

What I like to call “the magic window”—the opportune time to harvest the olives—was shockingly brief this year, Paco said. Olives, he reported, ripened at unprecedented and accelerated rates, going from green to yellow to black in days. Mariela relentlessly tracked the olives’ sensorial profiles, enabling Paco to direct his harvest team, laser-like, to fruit that was at its peak and eligible for Paco’s premium extra virgin olive oils. One of these—a Club exclusive—is now in your hands.

This Arbequina is not only exquisite but precious—a real Spanish gem. Paco asked me to convey to you how proud he and his family are to share their labor of love with discriminating olive oil lovers like yourselves.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This Arbequina leads with a fragrant bouquet of fresh fruit—on the nose you’ll appreciate apple, green banana, citrus, golden kiwi, and pear, along with rich aromas of almond and wild mint, vegetal notes of green grass and lettuce, and a pleasant hint of white pepper. On the palate, it’s very complex and balanced, with intense flavors of almond, grass, and herbs, the elegant bitterness of endive and escarole, and the lingering spiciness of white pepper.

Lavish it on salads with fruit and nuts, such as mixed green salad with citrus and sherry vinaigrette,* eggs, chicken, white fish, delicate pork and veal entrées, roasted carrots, ensalada de remolacha* and other sweet root vegetable dishes, spring green peas, sautéed mushrooms, vegetable paellas, soft-rind cheeses, vanilla ice cream, yogurt parfaits, chiffon cakes, and nut- or apple-based desserts.

*Denotes an original recipe featured in this report.

---

This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: Finca Gálvez, Jaén, Andalucía, Spain
• Olive Varieties: Picual
• Flavor Profile: Medium

When I sat down with José Gálvez in the brand-new main building of Finca Gálvez, it was apparent that the family’s 2023 gold-medal wins at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition—one for a Picual and another for a Frantoio—were squarely in the rearview mirror. Many honors have been bestowed on the Gálvez family since José’s father, Francisco, pivoted from the family’s masonry business to artisanal olive oil 25 years ago, but it’s not in their nature to sit back and polish trophies. They’re always looking ahead, setting new goals, and adding to their knowledge of the food world. Indeed, José had recently returned from Madrid Fusíon, an annual culinary symposium, brimming with ideas.

Considering all the countless awards that adorn the walls of their company offices, it’s hard to believe that the family felt any trepidation when they started out, but they knew they would be going head to head with olive mills run by fifth-generation millers. Olive cultivation has been part of the culture of Andalucía for millennia. The Gálvez family were the new kids on the block.

A few years in, José had the idea to distinguish Finca Gálvez from most other farms by crafting early-harvest olive oil from ultra-green fruit—something that almost no one was doing 25 years ago. After getting his diploma in business studies at the University of Jaén in 1999, José had immersed himself in the study of olive oil, first earning a certificate as a “technician in preparation of oils and juices” at the I. E. S. El Valle, then, over the following seven years, a masters in oliviculture and elaiotechnics and the title of expert in virgin olive oil tasting (he knows the learning never ends).

Yet patriarch Francisco wanted to proceed cautiously into this untapped area. “The first year we decided to craft ultra-premium oil, we made only 10 percent of our production in this early-harvest style, and it sold out,” José recounts, noting that I was one of his first buyers because I believed fervently in what he was doing. “So we allotted 25 percent the following year, and it sold out. My father had concerns, but once he saw that every drop was sold, he was fully on board.”

José’s mother, Felisa, who had cooked all her life with ordinary olive oils, was quickly won over by the early-harvest style, much like our Club members are when they first taste it—and there was no going back for her either. “When she’s running low in her kitchen, she’ll call one of us to ask for more!” says Andrés, José’s brother, who joined the business in 2009. Andrés’s first career was as an engineer—a great foundation for managing the workings of a modern olive mill.

Close as children yet with different personalities, Andrés and José remain enthusiastic about working together and view their shared responsibilities not as jobs but as their life. Though their roles are delineated, with José mostly involved in land management and Andrés mostly in production through packaging, they share the same vision, including respect for the environment. I always enjoy hearing Andrés’s perspective when we tour the groves.

José is meticulous about the care he gives his fruit, starting with pruning after every harvest, to get the most flavorful olives—even the best milling operation can’t compensate for inferior fruit, he explains. I love that they refuse to set quotas for the number of liters they will produce each season—they’re guided by the yield of the trees and the quality of that fruit.

This year, our beloved Finca Gálvez Picual is once again our medium selection, yet it’s deliciously unique, a blend of two different batches of early-harvest Picual, both from the same orchard but planted at different elevations and harvested on separate days to create the complex style favored by Club members. We toasted another brillant collaboration over a wonderful meal at Restaurante Payber, with luscious meats, grilled vegetables, and an amazing array of shellfish—fabulous whole shrimp, razor clams, cockles, and a seafood soup. “We’ve been working together for a long time, we grew together, and it’s important to us that Club members are happy,” José told me. With this Picual, you will be!

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

The green and grassy aromas of this Picual enchant—inhale chopped culinary herbs such as thyme, oregano, and rosemary, bay leaf, Tuscan kale, baby spinach, and walnut with hints of green apple and kiwi. Taste the flavors of dark leafy greens like kale, along with tomato leaf, basil, micro-greens, wheatgrass, and parsley; the sweetness of pine nuts; bitterness of radicchio and baby arugula; and the spiciness of celery leaves and freshly ground black peppercorns.

It will enhance fried eggs, grilled steak, lamb merguez meatballs,* tuna, salmon, grilled octopus, caprese, tomato salads, salads with radicchio and spring greens, meat sauces for pasta, farro- and barley-based soups, gazpacho, pizza and focaccia, steamed artichokes, grilled vegetables, white beans and bean soups, herbal vinaigrettes, chocolate mousse, and almond orange cake.*

*Denotes an original recipe featured in this report.

---

This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: García Torres, Selección Exclusiva, Almazaras de la Subbética, Carcabuey, Córdoba, Spain
• Olive Varieties: Hojiblanca, Picudo
• Flavor Profile: Bold

It’s wonderful to be back in this mystical, magical, almost primeval place, a national refuge for wildlife and ancient olive trees called the Subbéticas Natural Park. It’s a 73,000-acre mecca for rock climbers and spelunkers. But a leisurely walk here might find you dropping instinctively to the ground as Griffon vultures (six-foot wing spans, lest you laugh), peregrine falcons, or many species of migratory birds do overhead fly-bys.

More important to me and my Club members, this extraordinary region is home to one of Spain’s most well-respected olive oil cooperatives, Almazaras de la Subbética. Founded in 2007, this award-winning mill supervises the growth and harvest of many family olive groves in and around the Priego de Córdoba region in southeastern Spain.

Motivated by a tip from international olive oil expert Santiago Botas (see below), who assured me I was likely to encounter there fresh-pressed olive oils that matched my high standards, I first visited the area in 2009. I was enchanted by the municipality’s ancient churches, Moorish ruins, and charming rural towns and villages, their whitewashed outside walls festooned with colorful geraniums. It was in Priego that my Merry Band of Tasters and I met Luis Torres, then the general manager of the small, family-owned co-op Aroden.

Another thing that lured me to this incredible place was the prospect of finding the olive varietal Hojiblanca for my Club members. Its name means “white leaf.” There’s an interesting story behind Hojiblanca: A Spanish olive farmer named Cornelius lived in fear of decrees from Julius Caesar, whose Roman subjects had developed an insatiable appetite for olive oils from Andalucía. The latest imperial writ demanded that farmers increase their olive oil production. Cornelius owned a few olive trees, none too prolific. Then he remembered an olive tree cutting a traveling merchant had given him: Cornelius planted it on a hillside but did not have high hopes for its survival. Amazingly, it thrived. He harvested a few additional cuttings and planted them around the “parent” tree. And a Hojiblanca grove was born!

The affable Luis Torres joined Almazaras de la Subbética after Aroden changed hands. I was thrilled for him, as the Carcabuey-based co-op is also near his family home in Priego. I didn’t want to lose track of Luis, as it often takes years to develop the mutual understanding that allows for inspired collaborations on extraordinary oils for our Club. Luis “gets” me. We’ve known each other for more than a decade. He is one of the most disciplined and talented olive oil tasters I know, often quaffing 20 olive oil samples before most of us have enjoyed our first sip of morning coffee.

Because Almazaras de la Subbética is a larger entity, Luis has more olive oil–educated palates he can trust to back up his decisions, most notably manager Carlos García. Aided by Luis, Carlos is the supremely capable, hands-on conductor of the olive harvest, deftly orchestrating the season’s symphony of olive fruit. It’s been a privilege to work with this duo.

The harvest window was incredibly short this year, requiring the entire crew to work long hours. But everyone has to eat, right? Luis took my team and me to a restaurant we’d enjoyed before—La Pianola. Their baby clams are so succulent. Of course, we always bring our own bottles of olive oil!

Although it comprises only eight percent of this blend, the Picudo varietal plays an important supporting role in the fresh-pressed olive oil I’ve just sent you. Like Hojiblanca, Picudo can be used as a table olive. (Luis still laments that his grandmother’s recipe for cured Picudos has been lost…) It fine-tunes the Hojiblanco, polishing any rough edges. I love it. My Merry Band of Tasters and I tried the blend with varying percentages of Picudo and settled on this ratio.

This Club exclusive is magnificent, a fantastic reason to throw a tasting party. Check out our guide below.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

On the nose, this blend of Hojiblanco and Picudo sings with grassy and herbal notes of basil, parsley, peppermint, and tomato leaf, which give way to hints of raw carrot tops, celery, rhubarb, Belgian endive, wheatgrass, fennel, and honeydew. On the palate you’ll taste hints of nasturtium and rose, along with green tomato, baby spinach, celery, Asian pear, and the nuttiness of hazelnut, the pleasing bitterness of arugula, and spiciness of a peppercorn mélange.

Enjoy it in asparagus frittata,* pork, lamb, game, cured Spanish meats, salmon, swordfish, grilled calamari, shrimp and other shellfish, zarzuela de mariscos y pescado* and other seafood soups, roasted or baked potatoes, beans, lentils and other pulses, tomato-based dishes like pan con tomate, crusty bread, aged and fresh goat cheeses, hard cheeses like Manchego, vanilla custard, and chocolate desserts.

*Denotes an original recipe featured in this report.

---

Olive Oil and Health

---

Kudos from Club Members

---

This report’s recipes shine a spotlight on a few quintessential Spanish ingredients that you’ll be able to use time and again: pimentón, the country’s smoked paprika; Marcona almonds; piquillo peppers, a unique chile that grows only in northern Spain; Manchego, a firm, mild sheep’s cheese; and cured chorizo, the spicy cooked sausage. Many are readily available at upscale supermarkets and gourmet stores as well as online purveyors of Spanish foods.

Recipes

• Stuffed Pork Tenderloin Its impressive appearance belies how easy this dish is to make, whether for a weeknight meal or guests. Small potatoes roasted in olive oil and our citrus salad make appetizing accompaniments, as does piquillo pepper sauce. Ingredients 1 pork tenderloin, about 1 1/2 pounds Extra virgin olive oil Coarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly… view recipe
• Zorongollo This colorful salad, popular in Cáceres in western Spain, makes a great starter, light lunch, or midnight snack. Do not confuse it with zarangollo, a dish from Murcia that features stewed zucchini and scrambled eggs. Ingredients 3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, or a mix 4 Roma tomatoes 1 small head of garlic, the… view recipe
• Bikini Sandwiches Back in the 1950s, the Barcelona nightclub La Sala Bikini started serving croque monsieur, the French grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Because the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco didn’t allow French (or English) words in the lexicon, it was simply called the home sandwich, but patrons soon referred to it as the Bikini. Delicious when made… view recipe
• Lamb Merguez Meatballs Highly spiced lamb merguez is traditionally a dish from North Africa, just across the Mediterranean from Spain. To add a Spanish influence, orange zest is included with the other aromatics, and the finished meatballs are drizzled with a citrus sauce. Ingredients For the spice mix: 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 teaspoons fennel seeds 2 teaspoons coriander seeds 4 teaspoons pimentón 1 teaspoon… view recipe
• Chicken Kebabs with Hot Honey (Pinxtos/Pinchos) Is it just us, or does food served on skewers taste better? We have made these kebabs with chicken thighs (our favorite), breasts, and tenders. You could even use boneless pork if that’s what you have on hand. Serve with crusty bread and sliced tomatoes or a green salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil,… view recipe
• Ensalada de Remolacha Beet salad is a centuries-old Spanish favorite. Recent versions cut the prep time by using canned beets, but roasting fresh ones brings out their sweetness. Serve it warm or chilled. To turn it from a side dish into a main course, serve on a bed of greens, such as arugula, and top with hazelnuts and… view recipe
• Zarzuela de Mariscos y Pescado One of the most popular shellfish (mariscos) and fish (pescado) dishes in Spain, zarzuela is actually the name of an eclectic type of musical theater—think variety show. The dish, believed to have originated in Barcelona more than a century ago, bears the name because it’s best made with a variety of seafood. Cook up your… view recipe
• Trinxat de Col (Potato and Cabbage Cakes with Bacon) Think of this as a kind of Spanish potato pancake—comfort food at its best, with potatoes, cabbage (or kale), and bacon. Traditionally, it’s served as a frying pan–sized cake. But individual servings are easier to manage and look beautiful on a plate. Ingredients Coarse salt (kosher or sea) 4 medium-size russet potatoes (each about 10… view recipe
• Oven Roasted Broccoli with Serrano Crisps Many supermarkets now sell broccoli crowns—the top few inches of the bunch. While I don’t mind trimming off and peeling the lower part of the stalks (they’re great in stir-fries), the convenience of the crowns is appealing. A dusting of crisp serrano ham bits takes this easy side dish over the top. Ingredients 1 1/2… view recipe
• Almond Orange Cake This is a very moist, gluten-free single-layer cake topped with sautéed orange slices. A mix of oranges, such as blood orange, mandarin, and Cara Cara, slightly overlapping atop the cake, creates a beautiful presentation. Tip: Zest the oranges you’ll sauté for the topping and use the zest in the batter. Ingredients For the batter: 2 cups almond… view recipe