Last harvest, the Oliduero oil mill took to its fields of over 100 hectares of traditional olives and 12 of organic olives to see to this year’s olive harvest, which is expected to produce 70,000 half-litre bottles of top quality, extra virgin olive oil, a 75% increase on their 2015 yield.
The harvest was kick-started with the Arbequina variety, which is headed for use in the Oliduero Spring Harvest range, which this year will see the company produce 2,000 bottles of what is one of their most exclusive extra virgin olive oils, along with Secret Blend, a top-secret recipe that is known only to the head of the oil mill and will be filling up 1,800 bottles. Oliduero Prestige and Oliduero Organic, the annually released ranges from Oliduero are also soon set to get from field to shelf. The harvest lasted 15 days including the Arbosana and Picual varieties, along with the Arbequina olives.
The harvesting process adopts the latest agricultural technology, owed in equal measure to the oil mill and specialist machinery, which ensure the greatest care and best conservation of olives, and the use of raw materials and products of the highest quality, a principle which forms a key part of the company’s philosophy. Alberto Gómez, head of the Oliduero Oil Mill, reinforces that “this year we are seeing an olive harvest with a lower yield but a higher percentage of green olives, due to bringing the harvest forward for fear of winter frosts, which in turn gives rise to a very fine quality oil”.
A firm commitment to olive cultivation in Castile and León
With the creation of its Oliduero branch, Matarromera Group has come to be regarded as a company that serves as a benchmark for olive cultivation in Castile and León. In 2007, in a bid to reignite the age-old tradition of olive cultivation in the area, Matarromera duly decided to acquire olive groves to add to their inventory. However it wasn’t until September of 2014 that the Oliduero oil mill was constructed, situated in the vicinity of the Emina Rueda Winery in the town of Vallisoletana in Medina del Campo, which boasts an annual production capacity of 450,000 kilograms of olives, in turn allowing for the manufacture of 74,000 litres of extra virgin olive oil in its facilities.
In the space of two years, Oliduero has come to assume a position at the forefront of oleiculture, owing to its use of modern technology, its consideration for the environment and its ecological ethic.
The oil mill also serves as a tourist attraction in Medina del Campo and other areas of influence by opening up the doors of its Olive Processing Centre, where visitors can learn about the processes behind olive oil production, the various existing olive varieties and other olive-related oddities.
