Village Olive Grove - Grindelwald, TAS

OUR STORY

Our Story & Our Awards

The Village Olive Grove is a family-run boutique producer of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Our grove of 830 trees is located in the heart of the picturesque village of Grindelwald in the Tamar Valley, northern Tasmania. The climate and soil of this pristine valley are ideally suited to olive growing. The trees were planted in 2005 and 2006 and we have been harvesting now since 2011. Our trees are mostly a variety called Frantoio, which is a Tuscan variety well known for its high quality oil. In fact our oil has won a number of awards for its quality.

Family and friends gather each June at the olive grove and together we harvest the olives. We do this early in the season when the olives are still green in order to produce an oil with a robust flavour and maximum health benefits.

Once the fruit is harvested, we take it directly to the local olive press just down the road; this ensures the freshness and quality of the oil. There is always a sense of keen anticipation as the first oil of the season flows from the olive press ready for the first tasting.

Our Extra Virgin Olive Oil is typical of many Tasmanian olive oils; it is a robust-style oil and is high in polyphenols, which are antioxidants. The long ripening season in Tasmania's cool climate produces an oil of high flavour and high nutritional qualities. The olive-fruit flavours are balanced by bitterness and pungency (a peppery/chilli sensation in the throat). These three quality attributes mean that the oil really enhances the flavour of your food. High polyphenols also indicate a long shelf-life, and have significant health benefits. And not only that, it means that the oil has a high smoke point, which of course means that you can confidently fry food with our oil.

We use our oil especially on bruschetta and steamed vegetables, and in salads, pasta and cous cous, as well as to bake fish or simply to drizzle over smoked salmon. Of course we also use it as a dipping oil to have with our pre-dinner drinks. Another taste sensation is to drizzle our oil over good quality vanilla ice-cream and add a sprinkling of sea salt. Yum!

Try our Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We are sure you will enjoy it.

Allen and Barbara, Murray and Rosemary Baird