Víctor Pérez and other managers of the Malaga olive oil mill Finca La Torre chose between producing more quantity of oil or harvesting less but of superior quality. They opted for the latter, and currently their EVOO has been recognized five times with the Spanish Food Award for Best Oil.
Now, in the first months of 2020, they present their four varieties –Hojiblanca, Arbequina, Picudo and Cornicabra– in a travel-friendly case.
To the extensive list of awards of this mill is now added the recent achievement of 100 points out of 100 in Flos Olei magazine, a world reference in olive oil matters, which represents the highest rating given so far by this publication.
It is a tribute to the good diner who enjoys consuming this product –pure delicacy– at any time of day and in any country where they may be.
Distinction and quality
“When you produce olive oil you have to choose between quantity or quality; we harvest the olives while they’re still green, obtaining a much lower yield in favor of superior quality and organoleptic intensity”, says Víctor Pérez, agricultural engineer leading this project and company manager.
Bottle with sun protection
According to this technician, the oil produced at Finca La Torre is from early harvest, that is, with the olives still green.
And he explains, “from the veraison –the process in which it begins to turn black acquiring purplish tones–, the olive is at 100% of its yield, but it’s before, in early October, with all its greenness, when we can extract its purest nuances and more polyphenols, which are responsible for the healthy properties of EVOO”.
In this line, the first EVOO from the 2019 harvest to hit the market has been the so-called “One Limited Edition Hojiblanca”, a limited edition made with the best olives on the first day of harvest.
“This oil offers an intense fruity aroma with hints of freshly cut grass and olive leaf, and in the mouth it reveals a slight bitterness at the entry and a progressive, persistent and balanced spiciness with touches of green almond, apple and banana peel”, describes Borja Adrián, commercial director of the company.
Additionally, the “One Limited” is presented in a transparent bottle coated with ultraviolet protection to keep all its properties intact.
According to Borja Adrián, spokesperson in this case for the press regarding the mill’s new products, “This new packaging aims to show the consumer that it is an early harvest oil, with all the health benefits that this entails”, he confirmed.
The travel set from Finca La Torre is a practical case designed for individual consumers, both national and international. One of its main advantages is that it can be carried in hand luggage on any airline, making it a perfect souvenir for foreign tourists and an ally for Spaniards traveling to other countries, where a good EVOO is missed for drizzling on toast at breakfast or dressing salad at lunchtime.
Case with four oils
It is also suitable for taking to the office with a lunch box and an ideal gift for the gourmet as it contains a collection of what are considered the best virgin olive oils in the country, including two varieties, the Picudo EVOO and the Cornicabra, which due to their limited production –20% of the total from the estate– are not sold outside this box.
The new case contains four 100 ml bottles of each of the following varieties:
Arbequina.- A medium fruity extra virgin olive oil, whose aroma evokes freshly cut grass, with notes of banana and apple and whose entry in the mouth is sweet and slightly spicy, with a complex, balanced and very fluid flavor.
Hojiblanca.- Sourced from olive trees between 100 and 130 years old, it offers great complexity and harmony both in aroma and taste. Its aroma is intensely fruity, with hints of freshly cut grass, olive leaf, and tomato plant, while in the mouth there’s a slight bitterness on entry and a progressive, persistent, and balanced pungency with touches of green almond, apple, and banana peel.
Picudo.- An exceptional intense fruitiness with aromas of freshly cut grass, tomato plant, and green banana, and a sweet, chlorophyllic taste that is bitter, slightly astringent, with a persistent pungency, and notes of green almond, apple, and banana peel in the aftertaste.
Cornicabra.- Sweet upon entering the mouth, quickly turning very bitter and pungent.
Located 15 minutes from Antequera, Finca La Torre’s relationship with olive oil dates back to about 200 years before Christ, when the Romans replanted it with olive trees and installed the first stone mill, which is still preserved in the estate’s gardens. It was around 1260 – the year when the watchtower that gives it its name was built and still dominates the landscape on one of its hills – that it was recognized as a producer of liquid gold, becoming one of the oldest known olive oil mills.
A millennial oil
In 1999, the activity under ecological production began, although it wasn’t until 2011 that the mill took a transcendental turn with the incorporation of Víctor Pérez as project director.
Currently, and if we want to talk about figures, it can be said that the 2019-2020 harvest at Finca La Torre is estimated at 76,000 kilos, about 15% less than the previous campaign and 50% lower than the productive capacity of its 33,000 olive trees.
Of this production, about 12,000 kg correspond to the Arbequina variety, about 3,000 kg to Cornicabra, 1,000 kg to Picudo, and the rest (about 60 tons) to the Hojiblanca variety, the star of this mill, sourced from century-old trees.
This 2019-2020 harvest “is a campaign of exceptional quality, with an intensity in the mouth and nose like we’ve never seen before,” said Borja Adrián during the presentation of these oils to journalists at the restaurant “Al Margen”, in Bilbao, where chef Pablo Valdearcos cooked precisely with this product.
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/3clCqap
The Entity ACEITES FINCA LA TORRE, S.L.U., has received aid from the European Union under the ERDF Operational Program of Andalusia 2014-2020, funded as part of the Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic (REACT-EU), to compensate for the additional energy costs of natural gas and/or electricity for SMEs and self-employed individuals particularly affected by the increase in natural gas and electricity prices, caused by the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
