Fantastic summer leads to exceptional olive oil

While the dry summer has caused headaches for farmers, the hot conditions have resulted in some exceptional olive oils.

Greg Scopas, of Salumeria Fontana, produces oil from his own olives at Hoteo North, Wellsford, and also presses olives for growers throughout Rodney. It’s his fourth year of operation and he says it’s been a fantastic season, both in terms of crop volume and oil yield.

Greg is an award-winning sausage maker who got into olive oil “by accident” when he inherited a small olive press with his Harding Rd property. While sausage making remains his main source of income, he’s gaining a reputation for the quality of the oil he produces and the care he takes during the process.

“There’s no question it’s been a fantastic summer for us,” he says. “While some growers were initially worrying about their olives being a bit dry on the trees, they’ve been getting good yields from these olives, particularly in the north. It’s not unusual to start the early season at around 12 percent but this year we jumped straight into 18 percent.”

That represents 1.8kgs of oil from 10kgs of olives. Greg says it is easy to interpret yield in different ways and it’s important to not get “hung up” about yield.

“What’s more important is the quality at the end.

“We are about half way through the season and I’d have to say that what I have tasted, and I’m usually tasting three to five oils a day, has been pretty damn nice.”

Greg’s perfect oil is not bitter, and with a buttery texture and some rounded, grassy flavours or a hint of fruit. He says the Cretan olive, Koroneiki, is a favourite for the texture of its oil.

“We’ve produced some of our best oils from this variety, pure gold. Producing good oil is all about chosing the right variety and knowing when to pick it.”

Greg and his partner Kath Katavich have 750 trees of several varieties on their 12-acre block. Greg’s customers range from the small block owner with 50 to 100 trees to growers bringing him thousands of kilos of olives.

These growers prefer to pay a premium over a larger pressing house to get quality, as Greg says has more time to carefully monitor the stages of production.

“Whoever the client is, my challenge is to knock their socks off when they come back to pick up their oil. I don’t want to give them back any old oil, I want them to feel that it’s the best they’ve ever tasted.”

Don Windley, from Echo Valley Olives, Mangawhai, says harvest started two weeks early in coastal areas and is continuing as normal inland. He epxects to finish around mid-June.

“The six months without significant rain has meant an unusual harvest,” he says. “Some groves have reported a complete loss on some cultivars as the trees could not support the fruit without water. Last November saw a high rate of flowering and then fruit set, but the dry spell caused some trees to abort fruit.

“The fruit that has remained on the trees is small at harvest as it is not swollen with water. Press houses are reporting exceptionally high yields of quality oil from this fruit. In a normal year, percentages are around 15 percent yield; this year they are well over 20 percent.

“The oil from early harvesting has a high intensity of flavour and for those who could wait, the mid-harvest oils are some of the best flavours I have tasted from fresh oil.

The signs for this season are for lower fruit harvest, higher oil content and some exceptional oils.”

Image: Greg Scopas, of Salumeria Fontana.