Good Fortune Down Under: Three Spectacular Oils from the “Best Harvest in a Decade”

• These shimmering beauties have been rushed to the US by jet (even in this time of limited travel) to preserve their exquisite flavors and nutritional content.
• All three are Club exclusive blends, created expressly by yours truly.
• All three have been independently lab tested to certify they are 100 percent extra virgin.
• Expand your menus with the Aussie-inspired recipes featuring these vibrant, exceedingly food-friendly oils.

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G’day, Mate!

I love Australia—its friendly people, its vibrant food culture melding international cuisines, the bustling, beautiful cities, and the stunning rural landscape. Our annual Australian olive oil quest usually begins in Melbourne and concludes in Sydney, where the Merry Band of Tasters and I regroup to celebrate before heading home. Several years ago, in 2014, the celebration took a special turn for the romantic when my then fiancée, Meghan, and I got engaged (see photo below). You can imagine why Australia has a special claim on my heart.

I held out hope that a trip to Oz would be possible this season, but ongoing travel restrictions shelved those plans. Once again, your trusty Olive Oil Hunter shifted into long-distance-logistics mode to conduct a remote hunt, drawing on the steadfast and treasured relationships I’ve built over the years to fulfill our mission of providing you with the finest, freshest olive oils on earth.

Australia: The Startup Kid

If you’re new to the Club, you might be wondering, “Australia? I didn’t even know they made olive oil.” They do, and it’s fantastic! Australia produces some of the world’s most acclaimed ultra-premium olive oil, with exquisite flavors and peak polyphenol content. The antipodal olive oil scene is young, energetic, and deeply innovative—described as a “hoodie-wearing tech startup kid in a room full of suits,” in contrast to the fusty approaches of many European producers. And, because Australia’s seasons are the opposite of ours, at this time of year the freshest, most flavorful olive oils in the world come from the Southern Hemisphere.

This year’s harvest is being hailed as the best in a decade, so, if this is your first experience of Australian olive oils, you are in for an extraordinary treat!

I’ve been scouting Down Under for at least 15 years. All in all, I estimate that I’ve spent a year of my life in Oz—after the 10,000-mile air journey from North Carolina, I make it a point to stay a while. My Merry Band and I often cover thousands of miles within Australia itself, as its land mass is 3/4 the size of the US but with about a tenth of the population. Most of my olive-growing contacts are in the southeastern state of Victoria, where traveling between farms can take several hours.

How the Olive Got Down Under

Olives were introduced to “the lucky country” by 19th-century Italian and Greek immigrants who, lore has it, cleverly smuggled olive plants into their new homeland by sewing the cuttings into the hems and lapels of their clothing. With a climate mirroring that of the Mediterranean, Australia provided a welcoming olive habitat. In 1895, industrious growers established an olive research station at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, seeking to promote olives as a viable cash crop. But enthusiasm dwindled and the olive project was abandoned as Australia’s main agricultural focus turned to cattle ranching.

A century later, in 1995, in a wave of renewed interest, the contemporary olive oil scene got a jump start with the founding of the Australian Olive Association (AOA), which established some of the world’s highest standards for olive oil purity and nutritional content. Suddenly, olive groves cropped up across the Victorian countryside—tax incentives helped smaller farmers plant new groves or rehabilitate existing ones, and local fresh-pressed olive oil became a sought-after commodity at farmer’s markets. Many of those growers were weekend warriors with backyard groves, but some of them have endured to develop into celebrated full-time olive oil producers, with dazzling results. In a little more than a quarter century, Australian olive oil has risen to reap top awards at international olive oil competitions and is prized at home and around the globe.

Hands Across the Water

I’ve forged long-lasting relationships with Aussie olive oil experts, chief among them my dear friends Leandro Ravetti and Melissa Wong, whom you’ll get to know in this Pressing Report. Leandro, one of the world’s leading experts on olive horticulture and olive oil production, wrote the current set of rigorous AOA standards. Melissa is my trusted “heels on the ground” with an impeccable palate, scouting the best of the Aussie season for me in advance. Traditionally, my Merry Band and I begin each Aussie quest with a grand tasting at Melissa’s gracious home in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak (see photo above).

Leandro and Melissa both sent early word that this season’s olive harvest was truly “once in a decade.” Weather conditions were perfect and the fruit quality was fantastic. In a groundbreaking move for the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, Melissa’s legwork yielded a spectacular Picual from Tasmania, the heart-shaped island about 150 miles off of Australia’s southeastern coast, across the Bass Strait. Named for the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, Tasmania is located at the same latitude as Tuscany—just flipped across the equator—and has a similar temperature range.

I fervently missed being there but was relieved that Mother Nature had allowed for a superlative harvest in light of the many logistical challenges to overcome. Leandro, Melissa, and I conducted extensive Zoom tastings and blending sessions to create the brilliant blends that you now have in hand.

I can’t transport you to Australia with your soulmate (although I wish I could), but I suspect strongly that you’ll fall in love when you engage with these magnificent, delightfully food-friendly oils from the opposite side of the earth!

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

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This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Leandro Ravetti 2021, Boort, Victoria
• Olive Varieties: Picual, Coratina
• Flavor Profile: Mild

The headline, published by the Australian Broadcasting Company, confirmed what your Olive Oil Hunter already knew: “Victorian Olive Producers Revel in Best Season to Date.” Not only did I have samples of premium oils from this Aussie state lined up on my table, but I’d just concluded a Zoom call with Leandro Ravetti, a valued longtime friend of my Club.

“It’s been a fantastic season, the best in a decade!” Leandro crowed, confirming what my Australian scouts reported. The trees, he said, emerged strong from a wet, cool winter, flowered profusely, and set branch-bending amounts of fruit. A summer with ideal conditions followed, sparing the trees from destructive temperature spikes and bush fires. “Farmers love to complain, but we didn’t have much to complain about this year,” he noted with relief.

There was one peculiarity about this season’s Australian harvest: the olives began ripening earlier than usual, blindsiding some producers. However, a weeks-long lull in the process occurred when cool but stable autumn air descended on Southeastern Australia. This slowdown—call it “arrested development”—effectively prolonged the harvest. The phenomenon delivered big benefits to growers and consumers.

First, extra days on the tree enabled the fruit to develop more nuanced aromas and flavors, even in the early-harvest olives I favor. You’ll notice these sensory expressions when you taste the oils. And the delayed arrival of killing frosts—which quickly slam the harvest window shut on the best olives—made this a banner year for Victoria.

Second, growers had more time to react to one of this season’s biggest challenges: an acute shortage of farm labor. Australia, you see, has long relied on a pool of international workers to harvest its produce. According to Olive Oil Times, as many as 200,000 backpackers were employed as farm laborers prior to the pandemic, fulfilling almost 80 percent of the country’s seasonal needs. Most have returned to their
respective countries.

Leandro conceded that staffing was more difficult this year, but he managed with about 90 percent of his usual harvest crew. The team simply worked longer hours. Anecdotally, Leandro told me some growers of highly perishable produce—he mentioned peaches—were paying significantly higher hourly wages and offering signing bonuses as large as $5,000 to entice workers.

In addition to the epic Australian harvest, Leandro is celebrating his 20th year in Australia. (Originally, he intended to stay just two years.) The Argentinean graduated with honors in 1996 with a degree in agricultural engineering from the National University of Catamarca before completing post-
graduate work in Italy and Spain. In 2001, the rising star was recruited by Modern Olives of Lara, Victoria. As the technical director of the company, which offers laboratory and consulting services, Leandro quickly established himself as one of the world’s most influential olive oil experts.

As comfortable in a sweatshirt as a bespoke suit (echoing his ability to diplomatically straddle the crevices between Old and New World producers), the youthful-looking Leandro marvels at the places his training has taken him. “When I came here as an agronomist, it was with the thought of improving olive oil quality standards. I only intended to stay two years. It’s truly been an amazing journey.” And though he recently moved to a lust-worthy waterfront apartment in Geelong, a 3-hour drive from Boort, this guy shows no signs of slowing down.

I have worked closely with Leandro for more than a decade. Our mission? To help my Club members build what we call “taste libraries” in the way wine connoisseurs who know their grapes do. Like me, he is continually refining his own sensory catalogue, and appreciates the top-tier oils I’ve sent him from Europe and Chile—the same oils my Club members receive. (He was very eager to try the rare Tasmanian Picual; read about it below.)

A funny story: Last year, I sent the Australian oils to Leandro’s parents in Argentina, knowing they’d be proud to see his name on the label. “They were,” he reported. “But my mother said she actually preferred the Nullamunjie.” We had quite a laugh over that.

The exclusive Leandro Ravetti blend you just received features two incredible extra virgin oils. One is an intriguing Picual, a Spanish varietal that seldom appears in the Club’s mildest selection. The second is a stunning Coratina, one of the finest he’s produced, says Leandro. What a special privilege it is, dear Club member, to taste the best extra virgin olive oils in over a decade from a passionate producer a half a world away!

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This fragrant oil shows the softer side of Picual and Coratina, typically muscular cultivars. It’s a dazzling golden-green in the glass, the nose evoking green banana, endive, golden apple, and marzipan along with the green herbal notes of tomato leaf, sweet basil, and baby spinach. Rich and harmonic in the mouth, redolent of banana, green beans, and celery, with the bitterness of endive. Expect a lingering, white pepper finish.

Try this food-friendly oil with eggs or dairy (yogurt, mild cheeses, ice cream); fruit or vegetable smoothies; granola; pasta; yellow curries; potatoes; roasted yams; crudités; salads; autumn fruits; chicken, pork, and turkey; shellfish, especially lobster, or mild fin fish; baked goods including quick breads.

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This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: Nullamunjie 2021 Blend, Tongio, Victoria
• Olive Varieties: Frantoio, Coratina, Leccino, Pendolino
• Flavor Profile: Medium

The late Danish comedian and musician Victor Borge once said, “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

Which explains how 10,000 miles and 14 time zones seem to fall away when I speak to one of my dear friends, olive oil producer Annie Paterson, via video conferencing. Because we laugh. A lot. Ask my Merry Band of Tasters, who remember fondly all the chuckles, giggles, and gleeful moments we’ve shared during our many visits to Annie’s hillside olive groves and mill. Hilarity has always run like a strong thread through our relationship with this remarkable woman.

The entrepreneurial fire was kindled in Annie (real name: Annetta) when she was in her early twenties. Captivated by the beautiful olive trees she saw from a tour bus en route to Delphi, Greece, Annie was convinced they would thrive in the rocky, mineral-rich soil of her family’s Victorian cattle ranch. Her instincts were spot-on: Southeastern Victoria and southern Greece are roughly equidistant from the Earth’s equator. Both are located near the 37th parallel and have similar climates. But olive groves were a rarity in Australia at that time, and Annie’s father, perhaps trying to protect her from disappointment, declined to sell the young woman land.

She married and raised four children before realizing her dream. In 1998, Annie acquired property in East Gippsland at the base of Mt. Stawell. Part of the land’s appeal was its proximity to the Tambo River and the scenic Great Alpine Road. Six hundred olive trees were planted initially, including Frantoio, Correggiola, and Leccino. All are Italian varietals that have adapted well to the microclimates of the Victorian Alps. Today, the energetic pearl-wearing grandmother oversees some 3,000 trees. From my perspective, that’s an optimal number for a hands-on grove owner to manage: neither too big nor too small.

And Annie is nothing if not hands-on. In one of my favorite images of her, she is smiling broadly while wearing a hardhat and wielding a chainsaw. “I absolutely love pruning,” she said. She employs a post-harvest technique called vase-pruning that she learned at a New Zealand olive oil conference. Select scaffold branches are pruned to within a foot of the trunk, maximizing sun exposure to the tree’s center and maintaining the tree’s overall health and compact, harvest-friendly shape.

Speaking of harvests, Annie had my team and me in stitches recently during a mirthful Zoom-enabled reunion.

With her irrepressible good humor, she recounted her attempts to hire dependable olive pickers. The usual pool of willing and experienced labor including family, “grey nomads” (older roving farm workers), and the occasional backpacker had all but dried up due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Her version of the story could’ve inspired an episode of I Love Lucy. But the resourceful Annie eventually cobbled together a harvest team with “can-do” attitude (including secondary school students on break) that wasn’t afraid of hard work and that treated her tender olives with care and respect.

Near perfect weather conditions meant most producers on Australia’s east coast enjoyed improvements over 2020 in olive quality and yields. Many Victorian producers—Annie included—enjoyed one of their best seasons in a decade.

Social gatherings are still restricted in parts of Australia, meaning Annie’s popular restaurant, The Pressing Shed Café, is temporarily closed. Brisk local sales of her extra virgin olive oils keep her busy, however, and remind her of the renewed interest in home cooking. She also has a new puppy—a rambunctious Cairn terrier—that joyfully joins her on quiet walks in the olive grove.

The extra virgin olive oil you just received is a unique blend created exclusively for members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club. It’s a very well-balanced and versatile oil, one I know you’ll enjoy with your seasonal menus.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

This exquisite blend is grassy and herbaceous on the nose, delivering fresh basil, thyme, parsley, artichoke, and green almond with pear and baby arugula. Romaine lettuce leads in the mouth. Also wheatgrass, green apple, almond, rosemary, and wild mint. Enjoy a green tea-like astringency on the finish as well as the pepperiness of arugula.

Pair with coarse bread and salt; white beans, lentils, and chickpeas; broccoli; flatbreads; roasted or grilled meats; pesto; oilier fish such as salmon, tuna, or barramundi; sturdy greens; roasted squash, turnips, parsnips, or carrots; roasted pears or apples; charcuterie; and chocolate desserts.

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This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: AuLife 2021, Toorak, Victoria
• Olive Varieties: Coratina, Correggiola, Picual
• Flavor Profile: Bold

Have you ever enjoyed a dish that was elevated to an entirely different plane by the addition of a minuscule amount of a special, maybe even precious ingredient? I’m thinking, for example, of floral-tasting Persian saffron added to Arborio rice to make Risotto Milanese. Just a few golden-red threads do the trick. Or fresh pasta dusted with delicate shavings of earthy but extravagant white truffle.

The outstanding Tasmanian Picual featured in this distinctive blend is one of those transformative ingredients, the gold dust to Homer’s “liquid gold”—the ancient world’s term for olive oil. And we have my longtime friend Melissa Wong to thank for this taste experience, dear Club member.

I first met the vivacious Melissa, a Columbia and Harvard alum, in New York when we were both involved with the Food Network. Later, the worldly Melissa (she was born in British Columbia to Chinese immigrants) indulged her entrepreneurial ambitions by opening an Italian restaurant in Beijing with a Michelin 2-star chef. After relocating to Melbourne with her attorney husband, Robert, she founded AuLife to promote Australian olive oils and other fine foods from Down Under.

I could not have predicted that years later, Melissa would play such an important role in my quest to put the world’s finest extra virgin olive oils on Club members’ tables. She has hosted olive oil tastings for me and my Merry Band of Tasters at her lovely Toorak home, introduced me to several New World olive oil authorities, scouted tirelessly for the best Aussie producers, and managed with her characteristic charm and competence many pesky logistical details.

Melissa’s experience and refined palate—not to mention the discovery of the aforementioned Picual—helped me fine-tune this special blend sourced from Victorian and Tasmanian oils. Melissa’s extensive contacts, even in a pandemic-challenged year, made it possible.

We started with pressings from two award-winning producers, both familiar to us and longtime Club members: an exceptional Coratina from Boort master miller and olive oil expert Leandro Ravetti (read more about him below), and an equally stunning Correggiola from Kyneton Olive Oil. Both varietals are originally from Italy and typically have high polyphenol levels. They make up the bulk of this blend. Though I found the combination brilliant, I craved a tad more structure and intensity. A small dose of a boutique Picual was…well…just what the doctor ordered.

As a matter of fact, Tasmanian producer Fiona Makowski is a medical doctor. She and her husband, Glenn, bought their 50-acre farm (called Freshfield Grove) near Hobart eight years ago. Together, they tend about 1,000 trees, a mix of Picual and Manzanilla varietals, that were planted by the property’s previous owners. A diminutive on-site mill enables them to press their olives promptly, often within minutes! Pre-pandemic, they also hosted a popular community-wide pressing for people with smaller quantities of fruit. They hope to resume the tradition next season.

For Fiona, a native of the UK, living in Tasmania—population 500,000—is a dream come true. (Glenn is originally from Hobart.) The island state is the smallest in Australia, separated from the main continent by the Bass Strait. Nearly half the land is dedicated to national parks, wilderness areas, and World Heritage sites. It hosts some of the planet’s most eccentric wildlife, including the Tasmanian devil, a cute but famously ill-tempered marsupial about the size of a small dog.

Fiona says she and Glenn knew little about olives when they acquired the farm. But she is an enthusiastic researcher. A week’s immersion in Italy’s olive oil culture also helped the young couple get their bearings. Still, Fiona found pruning to be intimidating. “I was so afraid I’d kill the trees,” she laughed. “And some of them did have a weird shape for a while.” Her long-term goal is to maintain the trees’ compact shape for easier hand-harvesting. Today, Fiona is the president of the Tasmanian chapter of the Australian Olive Association (AOA) and mentors other less experienced growers. “I am so excited to send our oils to faraway shores,” she gushed.

Of all the olive-growing regions in the world, Tasmania is among the most extreme. Leandro Ravetti recalls a certain Tassie slogan: “Cool food from wild places.” Frost is a frequent seasonal threat in the higher southern latitudes for the slow-to-ripen olives. Yet Tasmanian oils, Leandro points out, often steal the show at AOA-sponsored competitions.

This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to send my Club members a blend containing a Tasmanian Picual and such outstanding exemplars of Coratina and Correggiola. These New World expressions of Old World flavors will be a thrilling addition to your cool-weather table. Please let me know what you think!

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

The grassy olfactory profile of this truly international blend includes Tuscan kale, ripe tomato, kiwi, citrus, thyme, watercress, and a bit of nuttiness. Bitter—almost chewy—in the mouth, but very well-balanced. We tasted lime zest, radicchio, fennel, tomato leaf, dried bay leaf, and parsley. Also the spiciness of watercress and Szechuan peppercorns.

This is a powerful oil, a match for beef or lamb; duck or game birds; salmon or mackerel; tomato-based dishes such as marinara or pizza; aged cheeses; roasted root vegetables; dark, robust greens; cruciferous vegetables; kidney or black beans; and dark chocolate.

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Olive Oil and Health

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Kudos from Club Members

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Recipes

• Grilled Tuna with Red Wine, Caper, and Olive Sauce Though deeply rooted in ancient Greece, this piquant dish is sensational when made with premium Australian olive oils and wines. If you can, buy sushi-grade tuna steaks. view recipe
• Tonnato This versatile Italian sauce is traditionally served over poached veal. But we love it on chicken, crudités, cooked vegetables (like green beans), and even as a sandwich spread. For mayo, try Japanese Kewpie, Duke’s, Hellmann’s, or Best Foods. You can customize the tonnato by adding a pinch of red pepper flakes, a splash of hot… view recipe
• Sheet Pan Chicken and Mushrooms Perfect for a weeknight, this easy meal (it can be served right from the sheet pan, which reduces clean-up time) is more impressive when made with different varieties of mushrooms. Feel free to substitute chicken breasts for the thighs if you or your family prefer white meat. view recipe
• Ottolenghi’s Burrata with Grilled Grapes and Basil Delight family or dinner guests with this decadent cream-filled cheese (a member of the pasta filata, or “pulled cheese,” family). Here, it’s partnered with sweet grilled grape skewers and exquisite best-quality olive oil. For the salt, I recommend Australia’s flaky, apricot-colored Murray River salt. view recipe
• Smoked Salmon and Nori Rolls Luscious hot-smoked salmon is a specialty of the island of Tasmania, an offshore Australian state. A bit of wasabi gives these colorful rolls a “devilish” flavor profile. If you prefer, replace the edamame spread with a schmear of cream cheese mixed with wasabi paste. A mandoline is a handy tool for slicing the cukes. view recipe
• Spice-Rubbed Greek-Style Lamb Burgers My wife, Meghan, and I love the bold flavors of these grilled lamb burgers. We suggest a Greek salad (greens, tomatoes, sliced cucumber, Kalamata olives, crumbled feta, and a vinaigrette made with extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar) as a side dish. If you’re avoiding carbs, you can serve the burgers atop the… view recipe
• Eggs and Greens in Olive Oil Like many followers of the Paleo lifestyle, we’ve been frying eggs in EVOO for years and have never looked back. We love the crispy edges, the incomparable flavor, and, of course, the health benefits. Ingredients 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided use2 large eggs2 cups baby spinach or other tender greens of your choiceCoarse… view recipe
• Wakey-wakey Spiced Persimmon Smoothie Available during the fall and winter months, seedless Fuyu persimmons are prized throughout the world for their nuanced flavors (reminiscent of pear, pumpkin, and brown sugar) and lack of astringency. Olive oil gives this vitamin- and antioxidant-packed smoothie a rich mouthfeel. view recipe
• Pear Salad with Blue Cheese, Olive Oil, and Mint South of Melbourne is Tasmania’s King Island, recognized around the world for its outstanding dairy products. One of them is a particularly unctuous waxed blue cheese known as “Roaring 40s Blue.” It is named after the punishing 100 km/hr winds (62 mph) that bedevil the latitude of 40°S. If unavailable, substitute your favorite blue cheese,… view recipe
• Cauliflower, Cashew, and Coconut Curry Curries have been popular in Australia since the 19th century, reportedly helping newly arrived British colonialists adapt to the island continent’s unfamiliar proteins, like wombat and kangaroo. Here, we offer you a vegan version of the dish. view recipe

Perfect for Your Summer Table, Three Astonishingly Good Extra Virgin Olive Oils
from an Award-Winning Chilean Producer

• Among the best I have ever tasted, these vibrant custom blends are incredible on fresh produce (especially vine-ripened tomatoes), grilled meats, breads, and much more.
• All are Club exclusives, available nowhere else.
• As always, all have been certified by an independent lab to be 100 percent extra virgin.
• These just-pressed oils were rushed to the US by jet to preserve their amazing flavors, aromas, and healthful polyphenols.

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“Hi, Tee-JAY! Yeah, so good to hear from you in these crazy times…” So begins an upbeat message left on my voicemail in late March by my friend, the irrepressible Juan José Alonso; he and his brother, Ignacio, are among Chile’s most passionate premium olive oil producers.

He was very optimistic about the upcoming harvest (which was more than a month away) and hoped that I could visit, having been
grounded in 2020. Perhaps it was magical thinking, but I dared to believe I might travel to Chile this quarter, my first international
trip as the Olive Oil Hunter in over a year.

However, soon after Juan José’s call and before travel plans were made, a surge in coronavirus cases in the Southern Hemisphere forced Chile to close its borders for a second time.

Sure, I was disappointed. Chile has long been a key player in my plan to supply Club members with award-winning fresh-pressed extra virgin olive oils year-round. I miss the warm, friendly people, the colorful late fall foliage, the festive harvest parties, tasting the fragrant, just-pressed oils with producers, and watching dueling breezes from the Andes and the Pacific Ocean tease the silvery leaves of the olive trees.

Why Chile, Why Now?

But I knew the strong relationships I’ve built over the years, such as the one with the award-winning Alonso family, were enough to overcome this season’s challenges.

When I founded the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, I knew little about Chile, which hangs like a slender necktie on the western edge of South America. Its 2,600-mile length includes seven major
climatic subtypes and innumerable microclimates. The Mediterranean climate of Central Chile, with its hot dry summers, mild winters, and high daytime/nighttime temperature differentials, has made the
country an agricultural powerhouse: it is known worldwide for its wines and alternate-season fruits and vegetables. Surprisingly, olea
europaea wasn’t planted commercially in Chile until the 20th century. Since 2005, I have met and worked with the country’s top New World producers. Quality-obsessed, they are determined to do everything right, even if it means breaking with Old World traditions.

And Why This Producer?

The Alonso family is among them. They manage some 1,100 acres of olive trees, a state-of-the-art mill, and two trendy brick-and-mortar stores in Santiago. Last year’s virtual collaboration with the farm—called Pobeña—was so successful, I decided to reprise it for the recent harvest. The property’s many microclimates and multiple olive varieties enabled us to create three outstanding and also very distinct oils.

In his voicemail and in subsequent Zoom conversations, Juan José (known to family and friends as “Juanjo”) confirmed that he and his staff were eager to translate my high expectations to another trio of exceptional extra virgin olive oils, regardless of whether I was able to visit in person. “Don’t worry about the oils,” he said reassuringly. “Everything will be as usual…better than usual!”

He was especially cheered by the fact that the groves received
much-needed rainfall during the growing season, interrupting an
epic drought (the worst in a millennium) that has plagued the country for more than a decade: the fruit, he reported, was
gorgeously plump and abundant.

Juanjo is well acquainted with my strong preference for green,
early harvest oils with high polyphenol levels,
but he advised me that the olive fruit—actually,
all fall fruits grown in Central Chile—was 1 to 2 weeks slower to ripen this season due to a bout of unseasonably cold weather during the Chilean summer. He and his team, which I trust implicitly, opted to delay the harvest until each olive varietal reached its flavorful and nutritional peak. Not only was that fine with me, but the extension gave us more time to handle the logistics of selecting and shipping fresh sample oils between hemispheres, creating
unique blends, reserving premium air cargo space, and taking care of other details. In the meantime, the Alonso crew sent me videos—lots of videos!—so I could follow the action.

I worked closely with José Manuel Reyes, Alonso’s general manager; Juan Carlos Pérez, the company’s agronomist (read more about him below); and Juan Francisco González, who absorbed the responsibilities of master miller Miguel Ángel Molina when Molina left to pursue opportunities closer to his home. I also recruited (again) the indispensable help of Chilean olive oil expert Denise Langevin (read more about her below). She traveled to the Pobeña farm—some two hours on rural roads from her home—to be my proxy, and, via Zoom, joined me in evaluating the sample oils and perfecting the blends. Luckily, we have similar palates.

Liquid Gold, Meet Summer Produce

To me, it’s an antipodal miracle that you can be splashing these outstanding just-pressed extra virgin olive oils on fresh summer produce (tomatoes, sweet corn, and more!), when Chile is battening the hatches for winter. As you treat yourself and your friends and family to these exquisite examples of “liquid gold,” please take a moment to reflect on the dedicated people you’ll meet in the following article, who invested so much of themselves in these oils and are very proud to put them on your table. Enjoy all three in good health.

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

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This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Denise Langevin, Agricola Pobeña, Comuna de La Estrella, O’Higgins Region, Chile 2021
• Olive Varieties: Arbequina, Frantoio, Leccino
• Flavor Profile: Mild

If you were to meet Denise Langevin, the multitalented and gracious namesake of this quarter’s mild selection, you’d understand what I mean when I describe this oil as embodying characteristics of her personality: sweet and amiable yet also complex, gently sophisticated, and spicy at times.

Denise, an international olive oil judge and expert consultant, was indispensable last year as my “palate on the ground” in Chile, and I was honored that she enthusiastically agreed to assist our Club for the second year in a row. On a spirited Zoom call with me and my Merry Band of Tasters, she proclaimed, “I am a #1 fan of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club,” making me blush and also sigh with relief.

During the global pandemic, the only way the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club has been able to uphold its mission of providing you with the world’s finest, freshest olive oils is through the relationships I have cultivated over time with the talented, passionate, and resourceful artisans described in each quarter’s Pressing Report. In this challenging past year, my gratitude has deepened, to a degree I might not have believed possible, for this supportive network that connects us across the world through our passions and pursuits.

I met Denise eight years ago at the Don Rafael Estate, one of Chile’s pioneering ultra-premium olive oil producers, where she was working as the director of exports. A native Chilean, Denise’s family is of French and English ancestry; the name Langevin comes from Normandy. Her expertise is in demand the world over as a judge of olive oil competitions from Tokyo to Berlin.

As the Chilean top-quality olive oil world is a small one, Denise has known the Alonso family for a decade. She is very familiar with Pobeña, the expansive, award-winning Alonso farm, and its ingenious practice of cultivating olive varietals in different microclimates, which allows for the development of distinct flavor profiles, even in the “same” olive.

Acting as my proxy, Denise made the two-hour drive from her home to the Pobeña farm several times to collaborate with the Alonso harvest team and taste samples of their most promising just-pressed oils, which were overnighted to me in North Carolina. Then I engaged the genius of master miller Duccio Morozzo della Rocca, in Italy, my trusted collaborator and longtime friend of the Club. The three of us conducted tri-continental Zoom blend sessions, testing and tinkering for (delicious) hours, to create the one-of-a-kind oils you have just received. (I never thought I’d write the phrase “tri-continental Zoom blend sessions,” but clearly there’s a first time for everything!)

Denise noted that the welcome spring rains—which, at least for now, ended Chile’s decade of drought—resulted in more complex, more rounded oils this season. (Remember that spring in the Southern Hemisphere is our autumn.) She was smitten by two Arbequina oils, pressed from fruit grown in separate microclimates, that were intriguingly divergent, like identical twins with contrasting personalities—one gentle, one stronger, both lively. We opted to blend them with a pair of herbal, aromatic Italian varieties, Frantoio and Leccino. “They all bring something to the party,” Denise noted.

I like imagining the different olive varieties, intermingling as though at a harvest party. A great blend is a celebration as well as a collaboration—not only among the individuals who make it but also among the olive varieties. As Denise observed, super-astutely, “When making a blend you don’t always need ‘the best actor.’ You need the right actor.”

Denise, her husband, and their four children live on a picturesque small farm of about five acres, with rabbits, a horse, an alfalfa field, lemon trees, and a bountiful garden. When she’s not helping to produce extraordinary olive oil, Denise crafts mouth-watering artisanal foods, including oil-cured sun-dried tomatoes and Limoncello liqueur.

“T. J.,” she confided, “I was so sure you would be able to travel that I made extra sun-dried tomatoes just for you.” As if I weren’t missing Chile enough already!

When I asked Denise how she’d sum up the exquisite blend we created, she paused, then said, ever so thoughtfully, “All the qualities you find in the fruit, you find in the bottle.” She’s absolutely right, and I can’t wait for you to experience it for yourself.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

Golden green in the glass, this multifaceted oil combines the Spanish varietal Arbequina with two Tuscan varietals, Frantoio and Leccino. It’s surprisingly complex on the nose, very grassy. My tasters and I detected green apple, green banana, almonds, vanilla and sweet baking spices, celery, and butter lettuce. Round and luxurious in the mouth, evoking artichoke, melon, hazelnuts, a ginger-like spiciness, and the throat-tickling pepperiness of watercress. Straddles fruitiness and bitterness with finesse. Expect a protracted, spicy finish.

Pair this versatile olive oil with eggs or dairy, including yogurt, smoothies, or vanilla ice cream; mild fin fish, such as cod or sole; shrimp or lobster; simple pasta dishes, such as cacio e pepe; mild cheeses; chicken; fresh corn; melon and prosciutto; boiled potatoes; and white rice. We’d bake with it, too—quick breads and lemon bars, for example.

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This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: Alonso, Agricola Pobeña, Comuna de La Estrella, O’Higgins Region, Chile 2021
• Olive Varieties: Picual, Koroneiki, Arbequina
• Flavor Profile: Medium

Since I became the Olive Oil Hunter, I’ve heard surprisingly similar stories in Spain and Portugal: a father, nearing retirement, announces he wants to start producing high-quality extra virgin olive oil with his adult children. And just like that, educational plans are put on hold, career paths are redirected, and lives ultimately change.

Chilean Juan José Alonso can relate. In 2008, he and his Master of Fine Arts degree were figuratively plucked from the California surf (he was likely still clinging to his surf board), deposited in the fertile O’Higgins Region in Central Chile, and given the task of finding a suitable property for growing olive trees. His father, Abel, a successful shoe magnate, wanted to create a separate legacy business for his five children, and was inspired by the olive groves in his native Spain. So “Juanjo” (with a soft “j”) and his brother Ignacio dutifully took on the job of creating and running the olive farm. The family named it Pobeña after Abel’s beloved village in Basque country.

Today, the Alonso label is highly respected by producers and in-the-know-consumers alike for its premium extra virgin olive oils. In fact, the New York International Olive Oil Competition (NYIOOC) just awarded Alonso another gold medal, this time for its 2020 Picual. Alonso has also been recognized by Flos Olei, the prestigious annual guide to the world’s best olive oils.

In a Zoom call, Juanjo (who resembles a young Dennis Quaid) reiterated his family’s ongoing dedication to quality. Whereas other producers might delay harvesting their olives to maximize the oil content, aiming for as much as 18 percent, Alonso harvests early, while the olives are still green and polyphenol-rich, and is satisfied with 11 or 12 percent. Juanjo said, “I have a lot of beautiful fruit this year, which will yield high-quality oil.” He laments that so many other small Chilean producers have bowed to market forces and now sell their fruit to bulk producers. Referring to quality, he added, “I don’t like the way things are going.”

Currently, the Pobeña farm is celebrating a record harvest. Which is wonderful, because from year to year, farmers never know what surprises Mother Nature (or other forces) has in store for them.

Last year, lack of rainfall was the big challenge for Pobeña. Strict, targeted water rationing sustained the trees. Fortunately, well-timed rains fell this season, a huge relief for Juanjo and his crew. (His 85-year-old father even supervised the digging of trenches in the groves to divert precious run-off to the farm’s reservoirs and 55-acre lake, all of which have been depleted by a decade-long drought.)

This year brought a different type of challenge. A key member of the team, master miller Miguel Ángel Molina, unexpectedly left for an opportunity closer to home. Even I was concerned about that. But I needn’t have been: it turns out there’s plenty of talent on the Alonso bench.

For starters, there’s the conscientious general manager, José Manuel Reyes. For the second year in a row, he coordinated the efforts of everyone involved in putting these exclusive olive oils on your table. It was not uncommon to receive emails or other communications from him at 11:30 p.m. (Though 5,000 miles apart, Chile and North Carolina are in the same time zone.) “Go to bed,” I implored him. “Get some rest!” He worked tirelessly to keep me apprised of everything, spent hours on the road ferrying my olive oil samples to the airport, and pestered the local DHL office with phone calls until he knew they’d been safely delivered. I can’t thank him enough for the important role he played in my collaboration with Alonso.

Then there’s the farm’s humble agronomist, Juan Carlos Pérez. (Read more about him below.) In the wake of Miguel’s departure, Juan Carlos has come into his own, taking on the mantle “Boss of the Farm,” meaning he has the last word when it comes to the health of the olive trees and their fruit. Twenty-nine-year-old Juan Francisco González has been with the Pobeña farm since the beginning. “He was involved with everything,” said Juanjo. Despite his youth, Juan Francisco has years of experience and training behind him (some of it in Italy). He is now in charge of the state-of-the-art Alfa Laval mill, one of the finest and best maintained in Chile. His talent as a miller is formidable.

The distinctive Alonso label fronts a very special blend of Picual, Koroneiki, and Arbequina. The former two olives, which hail from Spain and Greece, respectively, are rare transplants in Chile. Both represent less than 3 percent of the country’s olive varietals. It is an intriguing, well-balanced Club exclusive that will pair well with your seasonal menus. See below for specific suggestions.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

Emerald green and simply intoxicating. Tomato leaf, sweet basil, lime zest, fennel, kiwi, arugula, and green peppercorns waft from the tasting glass. This oil is even more exciting in the mouth, proffering fresh baby spinach, radicchio, pesto, rosemary, wild foraged greens, pine nuts, and Szechuan peppercorns. A spectacular, perfectly calibrated oil that will tempt you to drink it straight from the bottle or flaunt it at the farmer’s market.

Imagine it on vine-ripened tomatoes or their derivatives, like tomato sauce, gazpacho, bruschetta, eggplant parmigiana, or pizza. Try it in pesto; on dark leafy greens; grilled beef or pork; white beans; artichokes; roasted potatoes or root vegetables; sourdough bread; and cooked grains.

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This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: El Agrónomo, Agricola Pobeña, Comuna de La Estrella, O’Higgins Region, Chile 2021
• Olive Varieties: Coratina, Frantoio, Leccino
• Flavor Profile: Bold

The story of how Juan Carlos Pérez came to the Pobeña farm has the feel of a fairy tale or a fable. One day, a talented agronomist peered with curiosity through the fence bounding the olive grove he tended and saw another farm on the other side that was just starting out. Seeking greater opportunity, he opened the gate in the fence and walked into a new position that changed his life.

And that’s pretty much how it happened. A native of the central Estrella province, Juan Carlos studied agricultural science and embarked on his career in the early 2000s with a highly esteemed farm in the north, at the time the most advanced producer of high-quality Chilean olive oil. He then transitioned to another quality-focused olive farm to be closer to his family home. At both posts Juan Carlos learned a great deal, but he lamented that their systems were already in place when he arrived. To some, that would be a relief and a comfortable way to build a career, but Juan Carlos craved a personal and professional challenge. His family was squarely behind him: “If you think you can do it, go for it,” they encouraged, as he debated whether he should take the compelling job over the fence.

Joining the Alonsos’ brand-new project in 2009, Juan Carlos was excited to start from scratch—he eagerly took on responsibilities that included planting trees, brainstorming methods of irrigation, and, overall, managing the grove’s ecosystem. With his quiet confidence and measured insight, he earned the honorific bestowed on him by his colleagues, “Boss of the Farm.”

The olive trees Juan Carlos planted have developed beautifully since the very first Alonso harvest, in 2011. One of the things I prize most about this grove is its depth: there are very few other farms in the world from which I could taste a dozen different harvest-fresh olive oils and pronounce 10 of them superlative enough to grace my table. That consistency and diversity of excellence is the result of Juan Carlos’s work. “He built this place,” said José Manuel, the general manager, when the three of us debriefed recently over Zoom.

Juan Carlos triumphed over Chile’s decade of drought with innovation and hard work.

He oversaw the transplanting of about 120 acres of high-density tree growth in order to cultivate more drought-resistant olive varieties. While high-density groves are easier to harvest and, in years with ample rain, can yield more fruit, lower density plantings provide more space between trees for the roots to seek water
in dry periods. His team also pruned some trees quite radically last year—“bonsai-style,” he quipped—which, he predicts, will give them more years of life. “Next year, we hope to publish a paper about this process,” he announced.

With knowledge of every craggy corner of the farm’s many microclimates, Juan Carlos has identified hidden pockets where water accumulates during the winter rains. Rather than allowing the precious moisture to evaporate, he “harvests” the water for use in the parched summer months.

A day in the life of El Agrónomo (“the agronomist”) begins early, with a meeting of the 80-member harvest team, at which Juan Carlos lays out the tasks of the day. After the morning meet-up, he makes a thorough tour of the farm to plan the following day. Sampling the olives from every sector, Juan Carlos adjusts his plan as the fruit matures, up to the minute and down to the individual planting.

Knowing my preference for early-harvest olive oils, Juan Carlos moved his team mid-day to another part of the field as the olives there entered the “magic window,” the point of maturity when they are at the peak of flavor and polyphenol content. He identified two different plantings of Coratina, harvested separately, that provide the backbone of this spectacular, robust blend, which attains perfect harmony in the company of two other Italian varietals, Frantoio and Leccino. Juan Carlos expressed deep pleasure at having his name on the label, which features a vintage illustration of an olive plant—I could see the smile radiating through his reserved demeanor, even over Zoom. The whole team is proud of him.

With his 12-year tenure at Pobeña, the loyal and committed Juan Carlos is an anomaly in Chile, where people change positions and occupations frequently. El Agrónomo’s relationship with his trees is “like a marriage,” he says—a happy, healthy marriage. “I’m not looking over the fence,” he added, with gentle humor.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This chartreuse-colored oil is herbaceous and delightfully grassy on the nose. Inhale, and enjoy the fragrant interplay of almonds,
celery, artichoke, arugula, and dark leafy greens. Very harmonious on the palate, summoning associations of fresh hops, basil, lime zest, green tomato, celery, nasturtiums, walnuts, chopped flat-leaf parsley, and pungent white pepper. The latter flavors the long finish.

Eggs and bell peppers will be among the first things I try with this bold, beautiful oil. Perhaps paired with a salad of baby kale and walnuts. Other delicious options include pasta puttanesca or ratatouille; tuna, sardines, or salmon; duck; game meats; lamb; aged cheeses; and grilled or roasted vegetables.

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Olive Oil and Health

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Kudos from Club Members

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Recipes

• Wine-Braised Potatoes with Garlic and Chiles The humble potato, a native of South America, takes on a sophisticated persona in this satisfying dish. Ingredients 2 pounds Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch chunks2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced1 bay leaf1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes1 1/4 teaspoons merquén or smoked paprikaCoarse salt (kosher… view recipe
• Celery and Greens Salad with Lemony Vinaigrette Celery, usually a wan understudy on a platter of crudités or a bit player in soups, takes on a starring role in this refreshing salad. A rather strong-flavored vegetable, it really benefits from a short soak in olive oil and lemon juice. Ingredients Zest and juice of 1 lemon (preferably Meyer) or lime3 tablespoons extra… view recipe
• Frittata with Arugula This infinitely customizable recipe is good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner—warm or at room temperature. The following version is vegetarian, but you can add cooked sausage, diced ham, or crispy bacon to the mix. Serve with toasted country-style bread if you’re not watching your carbs. Ingredients 5 ounces fresh baby arugula (about 4 big handfuls),… view recipe
• Avocado Corn Salad This vibrant salad, which features several of Chile’s iconic ingredients, is a great companion to barbecued meats. Stir in cooked pasta (shells or rotini), and it can serve as a colorful and healthful main course. Ingredients For the salad: 1 pound grape or cherry tomatoes, red, yellow, or a mix, halved3 ears of cooked sweet… view recipe
• Chili-Rubbed Skirt Steak Red meat is a staple in Chilean homes, with asados (barbecues) being a popular form of entertainment for families. Here, beefy-tasting skirt steak is marinated for several hours, then quickly grilled (preferably to medium-rare for maximum tenderness). Before serving, anoint it with additional fresh-pressed olive oil—Mother Nature’s perfect sauce. Pour a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Ingredients… view recipe
• Pan-Roasted Halibut with Jalapeño Vinaigrette With its clean, mild taste, firm texture, and payload of omega-3 fatty acids, halibut pairs beautifully with robust extra virgin olive oils. It is among the largest flat fish in the world, weighing up to 500 pounds! Ingredients 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar2 tablespoons very finely chopped shallot or red onionCoarse salt (kosher or sea)1… view recipe
• Shrimp with Avocado Cilantro Sauce Shrimp preparations are a specialty of Chile’s small coastal villages. If you don’t want to fuss with skewers, grill the shrimp in a grill wok or grill basket. The sauce is best when made shortly before serving. Ingredients For the shrimp and marinade: 2 pounds jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveinedJuice of one large lime3 tablespoons… view recipe
• Spatchcocked Chicken with Cracked Olives and Herbs If you’re intimidated by butterflying the chickens (spatchcocking), simply buy chicken halves for this recipe. They’ll cook faster than whole chickens. The chicken can be roasted in an oven (even a pizza oven) or grilled. Ingredients 2 roasting chickens, each 3 1/2 to 4 poundsCoarse salt (kosher or sea) and freshly ground black pepper6 garlic… view recipe
• Lemon Bars with Olive Oil and Sea Salt Olive oils with sweet notes can be used for baking and are especially good in quick breads and bars like these. Ingredients For the shortbread crust: 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour1/4 cup granulated sugar3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes For the… view recipe
• Grilled Carrots with Avocado and Mint Chile is one of the world’s largest exporters of avocados (called palta), after the Quechuan word for “hanging weight”, but some 30 percent of the crop stays in the country and is used in many dishes. The pairing of grilled carrots with palta may seem unusual, but extra virgin olive oil presides over a beautiful… view recipe

From sun-drenched, food-obsessed Spain to your table! Three alluring extra virgin olive oils have been rushed to you at their peak!

• These charismatic Andalusian oils, bursting with healthful antioxidants, will bring vibrant and enticing flavors to your spring menus.
• All come from award-winning artisanal producers.
• All are Club exclusives and are available nowhere else.
• As always, all have been certified by an independent lab to be 100 percent extra virgin.

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As I started to write this report, I found myself daydreaming that I was at one of the quick-stop ventas (diners) attached to gas stations along the byways of southern Spain, munching on Marcona almonds drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Then I was thinking of velvety jamón Ibérico, delectable grilled artichoke hearts, and savory torta española, all splashed with vibrant, herbaceous, fresh-pressed Spanish extra virgin olive oil.

Of Pandemics and Peninsulas

If, as poet T. S. Eliot wrote, some people measure out their life in coffee spoons, I measure mine in memorable meals during olive oil hunts. With the ongoing global pandemic, though, your Olive Oil Hunter has now spent a full year stateside—missing the people, places, and collaborative discoveries that I am devoted to sharing with you. My mission has never wavered, however, and this quarter, my quest involved providing Club Members with the finest, most flavorful oils from Spain.

The ancient Greeks named it Iberia, the fist-shaped peninsula comprising Spain and Portugal. Olive trees, first introduced by the Phoenicians and Greeks, have thrived in the sunny, dry climate for thousands of years. The ancient Romans greatly expanded olive cultivation in the region, which they renamed Hispania, to feed the Roman Empire’s enormous appetite for olive oil.

Today, Spain reigns as the world’s largest producer of olive oil.
The southern province of Jaén, approximately the size of Connecticut, produces almost 50 percent of the world’s supply. This year, Jaén’s output was more than that of Italy, Greece, and Portugal combined. As I’ve quipped, though, most of that is bulk oil I wouldn’t allow on my table—unless it were in a lamp. I work with only a very select few of Spain’s finest producers.

The Ultra-Premium Pioneers

About 15 years ago, a handful of quality-minded olive oil producers in Spain turned their sights to excellent artisanal EVOO, with a focus on local varietals, high polyphenol content, and extraordinary flavor. In the ensuing years, these pioneers—who represent only about 1 to 2 percent of Spanish producers—have shifted the landscape of Spanish olive oil, creating some of the most exquisite oils in the world as well as demand for them. The rise of premium EVOO has coincided with the experimental gastronomy of virtuoso Spanish chefs such as Ferran Adrià (of the late great restaurant elBulli), who champion exquisite food-and-oil pairings.

I am proud to have been scouting for fresh-pressed EVOO in Spain since 2005. On that trip I met the celebrated producer Francisco “Paco” Vaño of Castillo de Canena, now a cherished friend of the Club. (Learn more about Paco below.) On a recent pandemic-style
Zoom call, we reminisced about those early days—back when there was little interest in the caliber of olive oil he aspired to produce. “But you believed in us,” he said, bringing a lump to my throat. (I may have needed to turn off my video to brush something from my eye.)

The Merry Band Steps In

The irony of a pandemic is that while our human lives are turned upside down, many other living things—olive trees, for instance—carry on, largely unaffected. Spain anticipated an excellent olive harvest; the challenge for me was how to visit the most promising groves in order to make selections for my Club.

Last quarter, the Pressing Report introduced two of my dearest friends and charter members of the Merry Band of Tasters, Tjeerd Belien and Duccio Morozzo della Rocca. This harvest, Tjeerd, a peripatetic jack of all trades who speaks five languages, was at the ready in a kitted-out motor home, which allowed him to travel and lodge self-sufficiently. Duccio, an internationally renowned olive oil expert based in Rome, met up with Tjeerd in Spain. I trust them both implicitly to channel my palate and preferences.

The years I’ve spent building relationships with producers and learning specifics about their groves were rewarded. Tjeerd and Duccio overnighted me samples from several of our favorite farms and, intercontinentally, we tinkered with ratios until alighting on this trio of winners. These three exclusive blends are all from
award-winning producers who are thrilled to be collaborating with our Club: Finca Gálvez, Aroden, and Castillo de Canena.

EVOO Connects Us

Tjeerd and Duccio agreed that during this time of isolation, it was especially life affirming to collaborate on something so nourishing and fundamental. Olive oil courses through daily life in Spanish towns—when people hear you are interested in olive oil, they brighten, invariably promising to put you in touch with their
cousin or neighbor who grows olives. One of my favorite details from the trip was Tjeerd’s description of a talkative priest moonlighting as a cheesemonger, who stopped in periodically to make purchases from the Aroden mill and to chat—his sheep’s milk cheese is cured in their olive oil.

I am delighted to have managed a spectacularly successful “remote hunt” to secure the dazzling beauties before you. Two of these combinations are firsts for my Club and for the producers as well. Read on for more insight into the artisans, detailed descriptions of the oils, and tantalizing regionally inspired recipes to enhance your enjoyment of these Spanish masterpieces!

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

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This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Finca Gálvez, Jaén, Andalusia, Spain
• Olive Varieties: Arbequina
• Flavor Profile: Mild

I never dreamed a worldwide pandemic would interrupt my annual trips to the Iberian Peninsula. It did, of course, deepening my appreciation for the enduring relationships I have built in nearly 20 years as the Olive Oil Hunter. With movement often restricted between countries, provinces, and even villages, I’m very thankful that our exclusive Club’s needs were anticipated by top producers in my Iberian winners’ circle.

Among them is Finca Gálvez, an artisanal producer I’ve known since 2005. The family owned two olive farms when we met. Since then, it has added to its holdings and now controls nearly 3,000 acres. All are located in the fertile drainage basin of the Rio Guadalquivir (“Great River”), one of Andalusia’s most valuable natural resources. It is Spain’s only navigable river and supports millions of olive trees—the largest manmade forest in the world—and other flora and fauna.

Until 1999, the Gálvez family made high-quality bricks from the area’s red clay. Ironically, that same clay gives brothers José and Andrés an edge in producing ultra-premium olive oil—their goal since their father redirected the clan’s energies to agriculture. The densely compacted vermillion earth prevents unrestrained foliage development, sending more resources to the olive fruit and intensifying the oils’ flavors and aromas.

Prolonged droughts convinced the brothers to invest in a sophisticated irrigation system a few years ago; it delivers carefully calibrated water rations. (Only about one-third of Spain’s olive trees are irrigated, which underscores the Gálvez family’s commitment to quality.) They also employ environmentally friendly practices, such as encouraging wildflowers and grasses to flourish between the olive trees. (See the photo on page 5.) Not only is the soil protected from erosion, but the undergrowth helps it retain precious moisture and nutrients while sustaining the area’s abundant wildlife.

In fact, this year the family added world-renowned biologist Patricia Cano to the team. She has vast experience working with olive oil producers on multiple continents, and is expected to help Finca Gálvez develop an even more dynamic and integrated approach to the cultivation of olive trees.

Had anything else changed since my last visit? “Every year seems more difficult,” sighed Andrés during one of our Zoom conversations. “It was a complicated season for Spain.”

Echoing other Andalusian producers, he blamed hot dry weather for suppressing yields. Harvest crews worked during the coolest part of the day—6 a.m. to 11 a.m.—picking and transporting the olives to the modern mill with its state-of-the-art water-cooled systems. Protecting the fruit (and its delicate polyphenols) from heat is a critical step in producing the most healthful, highest-quality olive oil.

Italian master miller Duccio Morozzo della Rocca and Tjeerd Belien—my invaluable agents on the ground—evaluated many samples, and we selected two special Arbequinas to make a unique blend that I’m delighted with. Both oils were harvested from the same grove (albeit at different times), yet presented different profiles. Though it’s the mildest oil in this quarter’s trio, it is exceptionally well balanced, with intoxicating aromas, ample structure, and provocative flavors.

Finca Gálvez is thrilled to once again be chosen for our Club, grateful to be in the hands of in-the-know olive oil aficionados. Despite pandemic-related challenges, the family added nine important awards to its impressive portfolio, all displayed on the wall of their beautiful classroom, which they’re hoping to reopen soon. Not only were their oils named among the top 20 in the world for the sixth time by Flos Olei, the authoritative guide to the planet’s best extra virgin olive oils, they also won coveted gold medals in the New York International Olive Oil Competition, Olive Japan, and the London International Olive Oil Competition.

I’m beyond grateful for the many talented and dedicated people, like the artisanal producers at Finca Gálvez, who helped me fulfill my obligation to you during the past year, dear Club member—putting the world’s finest fresh-pressed olive oil on your table. But I am counting the days until my Merry Band of Tasters and I can resume our rewarding annual harvest trips. I sorely miss the interpersonal connections of the past years. And the food, oh, the food.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This blend of two Arbequinas, harvested from the same grove but at different times, has amazing synergy. There’s grass and green banana on the nose along with baby spinach, foraged greens, fennel, citrus zest, thyme, hazelnuts, and a honeysuckle-like sweetness with notes of vanilla and baking spices. It blooms on the tongue with the flavors of banana, golden apple, almonds and walnuts, tomato, the mild bitterness of endive, and the tingling heat of fresh ginger and white pepper. A rich mouthfeel with a satisfyingly long finish.

Pair this genial olive oil with scrambled eggs, Spanish tortillas, or omelets; bocadillos (Spanish sandwiches); garbanzo beans or white beans; green salads with tender lettuces and fruit; Iberian or Serrano ham; crudités; roasted Marcona almonds or other nuts; fresh, mild cheeses; lentils, rice, farro, or quinoa; sweet
potatoes; cauliflower, asparagus, carrots, broccoli, or fennel; roast chicken or pork; tofu; simple pasta dishes; mild fin fish, scallops, octopus, calamari, or shrimp; melon; and baked goods (like the olive oil cake recipe below).

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This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: Cladium, Aroden España, Priego de Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain
• Olive Varieties: Hojiblanca, Picuda
• Flavor Profile: Medium

Meet Aroden, an award-winning family-owned almazara (olive mill) located in Spain’s stunning Sierras Subbéticas National Park.

Acting on a tip, I first became acquainted with Aroden’s small but talented team in 2011. I faithfully auditioned their signature oil, Cladium, pressed from the cultivar Hojiblanca, for years before finally selecting it for Club members. I remember well the frisson of excitement that ran through the Aroden offices when the announcement was made; general manager Luis Torres couldn’t stop smiling! And though I couldn’t deliver the good news in person this year, I saw via Zoom that my selection of Aroden’s Cladium for the third year in a row elicited the same genuine, ebullient response.

Hojiblanca (“white leaf”) is one of 262 varietals on the Iberian Peninsula. (Its meatiness and high fruit-to-pit ratio makes it a popular table olive, too.) According to legend, Hojiblanca olives were introduced to the region—then called Baetica by the occupying Romans—when a traveling canvas merchant gave a local farmer a cutting of uncertain origin. Despite being planted on a steep slope in calcareous soil, the tender olive tree slip not only survived but thrived. Perhaps, the farmer reasoned, propagations could satisfy Julius Caesar’s latest decree—that millions of olive trees be planted to sate Rome’s appetite for Hispania’s highly-regarded oils. (Historians now credit the Roman Empire with helping modern-day Andalusia, nee Baetica, become the world’s largest producer of olive oil.)

Aroden’s premium oil, CLADIVM, plays on the Roman connection by using an antique spelling (it swaps a “V” for a “U”). The word “cladium” comes from the sawgrass that grows nearby.

Currently, ownership of the award-winning mill and some 81,400 olive trees is shared by five families. Additional olive fruit is purchased from area farmers who contractually follow Aroden’s explicit instructions.

When deemed at the peak of flavor by Luis, the olives are picked during the coolest part of the day, then rushed to the gleaming state-of-the-art mill for pressing under the supervision of master miller Fernando Sánchez. Especially prized is olive fruit grown on the slopes of La Tiñosa, the highest peak in the province, where daily temperature differentials are more extreme. Luis calls La Tiñosa “the Magic Mountain.” It’s home to peregrine falcons, golden eagles, and more than 70 species of smaller birds. Hike to the top, and your route might be intersected by the shadow of a Griffon vulture; their wingspans can exceed nine feet.

The just-completed season was challenging, Luis noted, due to lack of rainfall during the olives’ maturation cycle. As the harvest approached, ill-timed rains threatened the crop, endangering the fruit earmarked for the premium extra virgin olive oil he hoped to press exclusively for my Club members.

So confident was Luis in the quality of the fruit, he mobilized his team for an earlier harvest—my preference anyway. It was a gamble that paid off. My longtime colleagues, master miller Duccio Morozzo and experienced olive oil taster Tjeerd Belien, were impressed with the Hojiblanco samples. The oil could be made even better, Duccio argued, by adding a small amount of Picudo. We determined 90/10 was the perfect ratio between the oils. Luis, it turns out, has great affection for Picudo. He remembers fondly his grandmother’s cured Picuda olives and laments that her recipe has been lost.

The inclusion of Cladium in the trio of EVOOs sent to Club members meant even more to Aroden this time than it did the previous two years. Pandemic-related obstacles prevented them from selling their oils through normal channels—trade fairs, high-end restaurants, gourmet stores, and the like. So to put their premium olive oil in the hands of Americans like yourself who appreciate its flavors and health benefits is a real coup for this hard-working team.

They showed their gratitude by inviting Duccio and Tjeerd to a sumptuous lunch in the beautiful backyard of Luis’s family home. The photos they sent me of the celebration reminded me yet again of the importance of creating and maintaining personal relationships with these passionate artisans. I will be back. In the meantime, enjoy this extraordinary extra virgin olive oil at your own table.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

Hojiblanco, enhanced with a touch of the cultivar Picuda, is a hardy example of Olea europaea. Vegetal and intensely green on the nose, it evokes black kale, wheatgrass, artichoke, celery, tomato leaf, pungent culinary herbs like parsley and basil, and fresh pear. Remarkably well-balanced with perfectly calibrated bitterness. To the taste buds, it delivers tart Granny Smith apple, dark leafy greens, nasturtium, and celery leaves. Notes of spicy black pepper prolong the seductive finish.

This luxurious oil will complement a variety of foods, including salads or braises featuring dark leafy greens; hearty vegetable- or cream-based soups; avocado toast; grilled salmon, tuna, or swordfish; charcuterie; oysters or clams; beef or veal; duck; baked apples or pears; tomato sauce; eggplant; mushrooms; root vegetables; and yogurt or ice cream.

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This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: Castillo de Canena, Selección Especial, Jaén, Andalusia, Spain
• Olive Varieties: Picual, Arbequina
• Flavor Profile: Bold

“This term, EVOO, is getting more complex every year,” muses Francisco “Paco” Vaño, longtime friend of the Club and the cofounder of Castillo de Canena, designated “Best Olive Oil Company in the World” by Flos Olei in 2016. I met Paco, as he is known to everyone, on my first scouting trip to Spain. At the time, Castillo de Canena was a very young company that had bottled its inaugural batch of premium extra virgin olive oil just two years before, in 2003.

I should note that the Vaño family has owned olive groves in the province of Jaén since 1780. Their mill is named for the family castle (castillo), an elegant 15th-century manor that overlooks the small town of Canena. But make no mistake: Paco’s dapper, Old World sensibility belies his 21st-century entrepreneurial savvy and ground-breaking vision.

For almost two decades, Paco and the dedicated team at Castillo de Canena have been at the forefront of the movement for premium quality and innovation in Spanish EVOO. “You have to make a habit of excellence,” Paco says. Putting those words into action, as he always does, Paco and his team unveiled a brand-new olive mill just in time for this season’s harvest. The structure—white stucco faced with burnished metal that looks like aged wood—is beautifully integrated into the landscape.

Their former mill was housed in a room the size of my Asheville apartment. Incredible, internationally acclaimed feats of oleic magic happened inside that compact space! With the new facilities, the Canena team has more room for experimentation and innovation. There’s even a refrigerated receiving chamber at the mill to keep the olives cool as they arrive from the grove.

When a forward-thinking artisan like Paco develops a new technique that helps develop greater complexity of flavor and aroma in fresh-pressed olive oil, he may keep the secret briefly—maybe for a season, “to sweep the awards” (said with a wink)—and then he’ll share the findings with his peers, to raise everybody up. “It’s all about making the region better,” Paco says. He views the new mill as an investment in the community for the next generation.

His dedication and care extend to the natural environment as well. Castillo de Canena emphasizes the importance of biodiversity in the grove, which spans 3,700 acres of rolling hills and many different microclimates. Native plants and grasses thrive among the olive trees and sheep munch on the grass. At last count, 117 bird species have been identified. In light of the newly enacted laws that protect birdlife in the region, Paco observes, “That’s a great sign—that there are insects, that the birds are able to feed themselves.” A flourishing ecosystem, with insects to aerate the soil and pollinate plants, makes for healthier olive trees.

Duccio and Tjeerd reported that the olives were beautiful, with several standout oils as potential Club contenders. In a group tasting over Zoom, I savored the several different pressings of Picual—the varietal is one of my perennial early-harvest favorites from this farm—but found it a bit “short,” in olive-oil parlance: excellent but in need of something more to truly blossom. The synergy of olive oil blending never ceases to amaze me: a tiny quantity of Arbequina makes all the difference, endowing the oil with dimension and complexity that go beyond mere addition. Paco has never before combined Picual and Arbequina, and he is delighted. “You created an entirely new sensory profile for Canena!”

Thanks to the Club, this is something I can do—because producers trust me and my team, we can push the envelope, taking olive oil in new directions. They reciprocate by introducing us (and you) to oils that nobody else has experienced. Paco shared some words expressly for my Club Members: “You’re receiving the best olive oil in the world, experiencing a different range of aromas, learning about different uses for these oils in your cuisine.”

When we attained the perfect ratio of Picual to Arbequina, my olfactory senses transported me to Spain. The only thing missing was the traditional celebration with Paco, toasting another sensational collaboration over a delicious meal, drizzled generously with our fresh-pressed creation. “When you come next year,” Paco assures me, “we’ll have two celebratory meals.”

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

This stunning oil is green and beguiling, a delight to the senses. Inhale its aromas, and you’ll detect fresh-cut grass, green walnuts, green tomatoes, fresh rosemary, wild mint, bay leaf, black peppercorns, and green tea. A small sip of this elegant but muscular oil reveals a cornucopia of flavors—kale, spinach and other dark leafy greens; rosemary and thyme; arugula; artichoke; and chicory. Very harmonious on the palate with a languorous, peppery finish and just the right amount of astringency.

We recommend pairing this powerful oil with aged cheeses (called curado in Spanish), such as Manchego, Idiazabal, or Cabrales; rustic breads or tomato bruschetta; pesto; pasta with tomato sauce; grilled or roasted lamb; oily fish like sardines or mackerel; roasted brussels sprouts, cabbage, parsnips, or broccoli rabe; chicory, endive, or radicchio salads; potatoes; and chocolate.

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Olive Oil and Health

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Kudos from Club Members

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Recipes

• Tapa of Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce (Champinones al Ajillo) Common in tapas bars throughout Spain, this mushroom appetizer can be served on its own as a tapa or as a side dish with beefsteak. It can be made up to a day in advance: cover, refrigerate, and reheat. Add the lemon juice and parsley just before serving. view recipe
• Samfaina Similar to French ratatouille, Samfaina is a Catalonian vegetable relish that is long-cooked to a marmalade-like consistency. It is wonderful on fish, eggs, potatoes, or even toast. The key to its success is to dice the vegetables into small pieces. It will keep, covered, for several days in the refrigerator. view recipe
• Rib Eye a la Plancha with Brioche Salad Thick-cut bone-in rib eye steaks, sometimes called “tomahawk steaks,” are becoming common in American meat markets. One steak can weigh more than 2 pounds and can easily serve 2 to 3 people or more. They are best cooked rare to medium-rare. view recipe
• Refried Cannellini Beans with Saffron Nearly all of us have eaten refried pinto beans. But refried cannellini beans are a revelation! And they look beautiful topped with a verdant pool of fresh-pressed olive oil. view recipe
• Low-Carb Spanish Meatballs (Albondigas) Albondigas (Spanish meatballs) are a popular offering in tapas bars. They differ from Italian meatballs in their seasonings and smaller size—about an inch in diameter. Serve on toothpicks. view recipe
• Garlicky Shrimp Sauté Though known colloquially as “Santa Barbara spot prawns,” these sweet, buttery-tasting Pacific-based crustaceans are harvested from San Diego to Alaska. If they’re not available at your local market, buy the best shrimp you can find, preferably wild-caught. view recipe
• Classic Olive Oil Cake with Orange Glaze Moist and satisfying, this cake can be made from ingredients you likely have on hand. Instead of making a glaze, you can simply brush the finished, cooled cake with olive oil. It’s great for breakfast, tea, or dessert. (We also like it with fresh berries and a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.) view recipe
• Braised Chicken with Salmorejo Sauce Chef Katie Button, who trained with Spanish celebrity chef Ferran Adrià at his internationally acclaimed restaurant elBulli, later opened Cúrate Bar de Tapas in my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. This original recipe featured rabbit, which is more popular in Spain than it is in the US. We like it made with chicken. view recipe
• Asturian Pork and Bean Stew Asturias, a seaside principality located in northwestern Spain, is renowned for this hearty stew featuring various cuts of pork and large creamy beans known as fabes or fabadas. We love to finish this dish (perfect for a chilly day) with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. view recipe
• Mark Bittman’s Spanish Cod with Chickpeas and Sherry Cod, chickpeas, and sherry are among Spain’s most iconic foods. This dish requires mere minutes of active time, but when paired with a salad (such as the Orange and Fennel Salad on page 14), can be served with pride to guests. view recipe

Italian Olive Oil Producers Enjoy the Best Harvest in Years!

Presenting a Trio of Exclusive Club Selections for Your Table

• A nearly ideal growing season, unprecedented in recent years, set the stage for a beautiful collaboration between the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club and award-winning artisanal producers from family farms in Tuscany, Abruzzo, and Sicily.
• Available nowhere else, these outstanding extra virgin olive oils will bring joy to your cold-weather meals.
• All were rushed to the US by jet to preserve their intoxicating aromas, complex flavors, and healthful polyphenols.
• As always, all have been certified by an independent lab to be 100 percent extra virgin.

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How best to frame the story of my quest to bring you the world’s best and freshest olive oil in this, the last quarter of the year? Borrowing from the profound introductory paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novel, A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

The good news is that this set is one of the most stunning trios of Italian olive oils I’ve assembled in at least a decade. For the family-owned farms that produced these just-pressed oils, 2020 was anno buonissimo! The bad news—for me personally, anyway—was that I was unable to physically be there for this epic harvest.

This was very distressing to me—a cruel irony, as Italy has long been one of my favorite olive oil destinations for many reasons. Chief among them is Italy’s intimate relationship with the world’s most important evergreen, Olea europaea. It has been going strong for thousands of years and plays such an important role in Italy’s unique culture. The country is home to more than 550 varieties of olives, most of which thrive nowhere else; many of them have made custom-blending oils a real joy over the years.

An Especially Sweet Victory

On the other hand, I was thrilled for the olive farmers who, despite the hardships imposed by the coronavirus, enjoyed nearly ideal growing conditions all season long: a spring that treated flowering trees tenderly; a warm summer that discouraged attacks by pests; well-timed rains; and a cool but frost-free fall that accommodated an early harvest (always my preference). They needed and deserved that bit of extraordinary luck after the hardships many have endured in previous harvest seasons.

Earlier this year, Italy was one of the first Western countries to restrict travel during the pandemic. So it was clear months ago that my annual visit to Italy was not in the cards. Fortunately, I had two quarters’ worth of experience finding premium extra virgin olive oils in Chile and Australia by relying on dependable longtime contacts, residents of those countries who know how exacting and meticulous I am.

Introducing My “A” Team

As the Italian harvest approached, I was in the best position I’d been in in months, considering international travel from the US was impossible. From Rome, I was being advised by Duccio Morozzo della Rocca, a world-famous olive oil expert and master miller I’ve collaborated with for 10 years. Poised to join him, once the harvest began, was one of my dearest friends, Tjeerd Belien, a Dutch citizen and an intrepid world traveler. (His first name is pronounced “cheered.”) We have known each other since 1996. Not only is he the photographer whose work always illustrates the pages of the Pressing Report, but he also speaks five languages and is an accomplished olive oil taster, a logistical genius, and the best person on the planet for channeling me in the field.

Plus, he can drive anything—trucks, cars, campers, etc.—and on the left side of the road, too, a skill that comes in very handy when we’re visiting olive producers in the Australian Outback. After renting an RV in Germany (see photo above), Tjeerd stocked up on groceries (many European hotels and restaurants are closed during the pandemic) and as planned, rendezvoused with Duccio in Italy. Duccio had already identified the season’s most promising producers—all families with whom we have long and successful working relationships, including the Pruneti brothers in Tuscany, the Di Mercurio family in Abruzzo, and Salvatore Cutrera in Sicily. These names will be familiar to longtime Club members who have previously enjoyed their outstanding olive oils.

The Best Italian Olive Oils in a Decade, Says Expert

We kept in very close touch, exchanging opinions on samples and blends and handling the myriad details necessary to get these precious oils to your door. Tjeerd created a vivid “you are there” connection for me with phone calls, emails, photos, and video recordings, as he knows how dearly I love the hunt for Italy’s “liquid gold.”

Duccio continues to rave about the oils—some of the best he’s tasted in his professional career, he says. I have to agree. This trio of polyphenol-rich olive oils is incredibly well-balanced, with exquisitely long finishes and parity between fruitiness, spiciness, and bitterness. I couldn’t be prouder of these exclusive creations, or of the extraordinary effort exerted by so many people to put them in your hands.

These ravishing EVOOs will be amazing additions to your winter kitchen. Their robust healthfulness and food friendly characteristics will delight and astound you. As always, I’ve included Italian-inspired recipes to show off their finest qualities, as well as detailed tasting notes and recommended food pairings.

Happy drizzling!

T. J. Robinson 
The Olive Oil Hunter®

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This Quarter’s First Selection

• Producer: Salvatore Cutrera Exclusive Signature Selection, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa, Sicily, Italy 2020
• Olive Varieties: Tonda Iblea, Nocellara del Belice
• Flavor Profile: Mild

The Olive Oil Hunter was born in Sicily. Figuratively speaking, that is—T. J. Robinson was born in North Carolina, but my love of fresh-pressed olive oil and my mission to bring it to America year-round started back in 2003 on the rocky island wedged between the toe of the Italian boot and the coast of North Africa. At a Sicilian harvest celebration, someone handed me a small glass of indescribably fresh, green, life-affirming olio nuovo—“new oil”—and my life changed forever.

Native Sicilian Salvatore Cutrera takes it a dimension further: “I was born in an olive mill,” he says. “This is my habitat, like the lion in the savannah.” Salvatore and I got to know each other three seasons ago, in 2017. In our initial encounters, I had the sense I was being sized up—Is this guy the real deal?—but my discerning palate won him over, and Salvatore excitedly shared with me (and you, my lucky Club members!) what he calls his “secret stash,” pressed from his very finest olives, reserved for only those who can truly appreciate it.

Salvatore and I are thrilled to feature an exclusive Cutrera blend as a Club selection this year. “It was a perfect season,” he announced. “In 20 years we have not had such a beautiful season.” While Italy is home to more than 550 olive varieties, the groves at Frantoi Cutrera, intriguingly, are devoted to two: Tonda Iblea and Nocellara del Belice, both of which are popularly served as table olives. (I adore great olive oils pressed from table olives, as the fruit is cultivated for its intensity of flavor.)

Duccio described the choreographed “craziness” at the Cutrera mill during the harvest as “well organized, military-Sicilian style,” running 20 hours a day, with trucks laden with bins of just-picked olives arriving nonstop from the groves. “A beehive,” evoked Tjeerd. “Everyone has a role.”

Salvatore explained his uncanny ability to step from his office into the fever-pitched activity of the mill, always intuiting where he is needed, and for what. “It’s not just tasting and smelling that makes you a great miller—perfect managing involves using all the senses. When you are inside the mill you see, smell, hear, touch. You listen to the rhythm and noise of the equipment, and you know if something must be done.”

The intense productivity of the mill is made possible by the extended—and extensive—Cutrera family. Salvatore’s two sisters and both his brothers-in-law are involved in the business, as are some of their children, totaling at least 12 of the employees. They are always looking forward, striving for perfection.

Last season the mill implemented a heating exchange system, in which a long stretch of tubing allows the olive paste to be cooled to an exact temperature, reducing the time and heat exposure, increasing the aromas, and allowing for better oils.

“Next year,” Salvatore promised, “you will visit my new facility.” In the ambitious, groundbreaking project, connecting corridors of glass will allow all production areas to be visible to each other and to visitors, promoting olive oil education by drawing locals and tourists alike to observe the process. Seventy-five huge olive trees encircle the structure. All the state-of-the-art equipment and holding tanks will be brand-new, and Frantoi Cutrera plans to premiere a technique for transporting each just-pressed oil directly to its corresponding storage tank, under temperature-controlled conditions, with no oxygen exposure. Among attempts to evoke the scale and importance of the new mill, I think Duccio described it best: “It will be a cathedral of olive oil.”

I can’t wait for you to taste this exquisite blend—it exemplifies all the sensuous characteristics of Tonda Iblea, fortified by Nocellara del Belice. Even though I have worked with these two varietals in the past, this particular blend is one of a kind. Every year is different; as Salvatore observed, “You must put the season in context in order to understand how to work with the olives to produce the very finest oils.”

He then returned thoughtfully to the idea of craziness, opining that to create something truly great, one needs to have a little touch of insanity. “I see the same craziness in T. J., the passion we share.”

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings

Green in the glass and on the nose, this intoxicating olive oil is perfumed with the scents of tomato, tomato leaf, fresh basil and mint, green apple, baby fennel, celery, and walnuts, punctuated with the spiciness of arugula and white pepper. In the mouth, my tasters detected fresh-cut grass, green tomato, and minerally baby spinach with Belgian endive-like bitterness. We were captivated by the nuttiness of Nocellara del Belice and the tomato-ey notes delivered by Tonda Iblea.( Both varietals are natives of Sicily.) Extremely well-balanced with a warm, lingering finish.

This oil would be perfetto with fresh bread; mild white fish, such as sole or cod; lobster, shrimp, or crabmeat; chicken; risotto, polenta, and other grains; white beans; squash; salads featuring fruit and/or nuts; crudités; tomato bruschetta; pizza; pasta; potatoes; roasted pears with pistachios; mild cheeses; or a variety of soups, such as chickpea, tomato, minestrone, potato, or cauliflower.

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This Quarter’s Second Selection

• Producer: Frantoio Mercurius, Penne, Abruzzo, Italy 2020
• Olive Varieties: Dritta
• Flavor Profile: Medium

For the past two years, veteran Club members have received a phenomenal extra virgin olive oil pressed during the Italian harvest called Frantoio Hermes. The name, as fans of Greek and Roman mythology will recognize, was a play on the producer’s surname, Di Mercurio.

Somehow, this diminutive 60-acre family farm in rural Abruzzo snagged the attention of the high-end Paris fashion house founded in 1837, also known as Hermes, which flexed its legal muscle to force a name change. Thus, the olive oil brand that delighted Club members in 2018 and 2019 is now known as Frantoio Mercurius.
(Sometimes, Goliath wins.)

But you win, too, dear Club member, as the oil pressed during the current harvest by this small boutique farm is once again—for the third year in a row—outstanding. (Usually, olive trees require at least one season to recoup their vigor.) The name may have changed, but this family’s unwavering commitment to quality continues to impress. Among the many awards Claudio Di Mercurio and his team have won in a mere 10 years is the much-coveted “Frantoio dell’ Anno” (Mill of the Year) by the prestigious Italian food and wine empire known as Gambero Rosso.

Almost as precious to Claudio are the compliments he’s received from my appreciative Club members. He grins widely when he recalls them. He is still incredulous that the extra virgin olive oils he and his family produce from Dritta olives, an early ripening varietal unique to Abruzzo, are on the tables of olive oil-savvy Americans like yourself.

Dritta is one of several hundred Italian olive cultivars. The name translates to “sweet,” “dependable,” or “trustworthy.” As an adjective, the word dritta can be applied to people as well—certainly, it’s appropriate for the sweet and trustworthy Di Mercurio family.

While I savored the many photos, videos, and olive oil samples Tjeerd and Duccio sent me from the farm, I felt wistful that I couldn’t be there in person to savor the first drops of just-pressed olive oil on the family’s warm-from-the-oven bread, steaming soup, garden-fresh salads and vegetables, cured meats, and more. Nostalgia overwhelmed me when I saw a recording of one of Claudio’s sisters stirring pasta into a huge pot of boiling water over an outdoor propane burner fashioned from a tin wash tub. I remembered so well the family’s warm hospitality from my first meals at their table, and later, the comfortable and informal way we related at the end of long days in the groves or at the mill.

Weariness, of course, is much easier to cope with when the harvest is as sensational as this one was in both quality and quantity. The entire season, Claudio noted happily, was almost picture-perfect. No curveballs from Mother Nature! Cooler temperatures in the spring and early summer made for good flowering (if there are too many buds, the tree’s energy can be sapped as the fruit develops) and were inhospitable to the pests that sometimes threaten the crop. Well-timed fall rains helped the fruit mature, as did optimum differentials between daytime and nighttime temperatures. (The latter is critical for the development of intoxicating olive oil aromas.)

Claudio, an electrical engineer by training (his wife, Olga, is a medical doctor), relentlessly searches for ways to improve the quality of the oils the family produces. This year, he invested in a device that produces inert nitrogen gas, which is used by the world’s best olive oil producers to displace any oxygen that might come into contact with the fresh-pressed oils. Nitrogen inhibits premature oxidation and protects healthful polyphenols.

In another new development, the Di Mercurios’ 19-year-old son, Antonio, has taken a year off from his schooling to learn the olive oil business from the ground up, a source of great pride for his parents.

If you are unfamiliar with it, Abruzzo is a region in South-Central Italy about 60 miles east of Rome. The Di Mercurio farm, its beautiful hills studded with olive trees, is located near the Adriatic Sea and the ancient city of Penne. Just over the ridge is an otherworldly area resembling the American West where American-made films, such as “spaghetti Westerns,” were shot in the 1960s and 70s. (See the photo above.)

I can’t wait for you to taste this exclusive and very special olive oil, which is available only to members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club. I promise it will be a singular experience.

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

For the third consecutive year, this personable oil, pressed from rare Dritta olives, stays mostly in character. Herbal and grassy, it’s evocative on the nose of almonds, artichokes, green bananas, golden apples, cinnamon, mint, red peppers, and chopped winter greens. Abundant polyphenols give it a Szechuan peppercorn-like spiciness in the mouth, tempered with the flavors of arugula, radicchio, artichoke, hazelnuts, celery, and lime zest. Beautifully calibrated. Anticipate a pleasant and protracted finish.

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This Quarter’s Third Selection

• Producer: Frantoio Pruneti, San Polo in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy 2020
• Olive Varieties: Moraiolo, Leccino, Frantoio, Pendolino
• Flavor Profile: Bold

When you walk into Frantoio Pruneti, the air is alive and tingling with peppery, spicy, pungent polyphenols and the scent of fresh, green olive oil. I fervently missed that olfactory experience this season; if I close my eyes and imagine standing in that space I can smell the greenness, and my throat practically tickles from the oleocanthal in the olives.

Brothers Gionni and Paolo Pruneti are fourth-generation olive oil producers with gold-medal-winning, diversified groves located sixty miles from Siena. Their extra virgin olive oils consistently reap the most coveted honors, with at least four appearances on the Top 20 list of Flos Olei, the connoisseur’s guide to the world’s best olive oils. On my very first visit, in 2012, I was so smitten that I presented one of their brilliant oils as a Club selection, and we have collaborated a number of times since. The impeccably maintained groves, comprising more than 30,000 trees, carpet the hills in and around the town of San Polo in Chianti, along the storied wine route between Siena and Florence.

Gionni shared exuberant news early: “This is going to be a great season!” For the first time in fifteen years, the Pruneti groves enjoyed normal weather (or, rather, what used to be considered normal weather)—a hot summer, with enough rain to create plump fruit, but not too much moisture; and a pleasingly cool fall. This provided for an early harvest—my timing preference for maximizing the complex flavors and plentiful perfumes in the resulting oils—and for a manageable, standard workday for the harvest team. (The hotter temperatures of the past several years have dictated that harvests start before dawn and end before midday in order to protect the picked fruit from the blistering heat.)

I can’t lie to you—I was deeply disappointed to miss the best Tuscan harvest in more than a decade. But I couldn’t ask for a better virtual reality experience than via my two most trusted colleagues, Tjeerd Belien and Duccio Morozzo, who served as my nose, palate, eyes, and ears in the Remote Italian Olive Oil Hunt of 2020.

Tjeerd shared a steady stream of details, starting with “Gionni is thrilled with the olives… and beyond exhausted.” During peak harvest time, the mill runs round the clock, and the brothers swap shifts: Gionni works from 8 a.m., when the harvest day starts, past midnight, then sleeps four to five hours on a pullout bed. Paolo covers the second shift, from about 10 p.m. to the early morning.

Running the olive mill (frantoio) and the business is truly a family affair. Gionni oversees the production process while Paolo handles marketing and also fills in at the mill. Their father, Gilberto, is retired but continues to make rounds, while the youngest generation enjoys hanging out with the harvest team and witnessing the olives’ journey from the tree to the mill to the table. Little Lorenzo, Gionni’s 7-year-old son, wears big earmuffs to protect his ears from the whir and din of the equipment as he marches around, monitoring the progress. You can see one of Paolo’s daughters, Elisa, in the groves with the harvesters and her papa above.

This season, Gionni explained, they installed a new disc crusher with a differently shaped grid that helps maximize the aroma in the resulting oil. (Olive crushers are of three varieties—knife, hammer, or disc—each with particular attributes.) The team also shortened the pipe that transports the olive paste, keeping it cooler and further optimizing the aroma and flavors in the final product.

Gionni and Duccio share a history going back to 2006. They met while working for Alfa Laval, the renowned manufacturer of world-class olive-milling equipment, and both are master millers, the highest level of expertise in olive oil production. As longtime colleagues and friends, it was meaningful to them both to collaborate on this exclusive, quintessentially Tuscan-style blend for our Club.

Gionni experienced a moment of confronto (reckoning) as Duccio reminded him how receptive the Club would be to a bold, robust oil: his eyes lit up and he got a big smile on his face. The two olive oil geniuses put their (curly) heads together, “channeling T. J.,” as they put it, and arrived at a gorgeous blend that embodies the finest qualities of Tuscan olive oil: it’s bold, dazzling, harmonious, and exceedingly food friendly.

Paolo and Gionni asked that I extend their congratulations to the Club for helping educate Americans about high-quality extra virgin olive oil. From Tuscany, in the form of the shimmering bottle of liquid gold you hold in your hands, they send their very warmest “Saluti” and “Grazie!”

Impressions and Recommended Food Pairings 

In the past, I have referred to a robust Pruneti blend as “Tuscany in a bottle,” and the description is still apt. The nose is dominated by the scents of almonds, green bananas and apples, vanilla, fresh oregano, fennel, and wheatgrass with white pepper for spiciness and marzipan (almond paste) for a touch of sweetness. So substantial, it’s almost chewy in the mouth, reprising almonds along with wild greens, black kale, nasturtiums, sage, and the assertive spiciness of mixed peppercorns. Pulls no punches, but was described by one of my tasters as “a joy ride on the palate.” Indeed.

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Olive Oil and Health

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Kudos from Club Members

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Recipes

• One-Pot Pasta with Sausage and Spinach Hearty, filling, and needing only one pot, this comforting dish will warm a three-dog night. I first cooked with passata (strained uncooked tomato purée) during a visit to Italy, but have since found passata on some upscale American supermarket shelves. view recipe
• Italian Apple Olive Oil Cake Rustic and moist, this Ligurian cake deserves a place in your olive oil baking repertoire. It will infuse your kitchen with the scents of late fall—apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. No frosting is required, but we wouldn’t say no to a drizzle of warm honey or a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream. view recipe
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Onions with Mushroom Lardons Some of our favorite members of the Brassica family, brussels sprouts, star in this vegan-friendly mélange of seasonal vegetables. Large king oyster or shiitake mushrooms can be found at many supermarkets or Asian food emporiums. Feel free to substitute other meaty mushrooms, such as portobellos or creminis. view recipe
• Sicilian-Style Grilled Artichokes Longtime friend of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club, author and TV host Steven Raichlen, shared this recipe from his forthcoming book, How to Grill Vegetables. It pays homage to Italians’ love of grilled artichokes. Here, this delectable botanical (yes, artichokes are technically flowers) are grilled directly in the embers of a wood or charcoal re. view recipe
• Dry-Rubbed Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Sauce Nothing says “special occasion” more eloquently than beef tenderloin. To make sure the mild flavor of the meat is front and center, we rub it with a fragrant paste of fresh herbs, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil before ovenroasting. You can even skip the red wine sauce and drizzle the sliced meat with more… view recipe
• Maine Downeast Pumpkin Bread Make a double batch of this moist bread, as it freezes well and is great for sharing with family and friends. If you’re a “from scratch” kind of person, you can make your own pumpkin purée from pie pumpkins. view recipe
• Antipasto Bites For a carb-free version of these colorful, festive skewers, replace the cheese tortellini with cherry tomatoes, marinated mushroom caps, or pepperoncini. view recipe
• Ribollita In the spirit of cucina povera (poverty cuisine), Italian mothers and grandmothers have repurposed for generations a thick vegetable stew (every family has their own recipe) by submerging bread and cheese in it and reheating. view recipe
• Sweet Potato Soup with Sage Pesto A cornucopia of seasonal flavors comes together in this creamy vegetarian soup. It’s homey, yet you can serve it to the most sophisticated palates in your best china or rustic soup bowls. It gets a double hit of fresh-pressed olive oil, which is used in the vibrant, herbaceous pesto as well as the soup. view recipe
• Kale Salad with Grana Padano Tuscan kale is sold under several names and might be labeled dinosaur kale, black kale, cavolo nero, or lacinato kale. Grana Padano is an aged cow’s milk cheese from Emilia-Romagna. If you can’t find it, substitute Parmigiano-Reggiano. view recipe