Huile Dargent

Having had a freezing winter followed by a heatwave with very little rain (40% to 50% less than usual) we will have a normal harvest! The olive flies are unable to lay their eggs above 30° and the larvae from the year before die with extremely cold temperatures (we had -15° this winter). The olives either pack some trees or are absent from others, a result of the cold and strong winds during the flowering.

The olives are in excellent condition for this time of year and are just beginning on some varietes to change colour. We hope to produce two distinct oils this year (both assemblages) and expect from the first indicators to be achieving « fruité vert ». The oils should be ready for january 2013.

Well the news is out, Afidol have announced that our region will have a very small harvest this year. We estimate that we have lost at least 70% of the crop due to the howling, rain swept gales at the beginning of June when the trees were in flower. We soldier on, and with the estimated 2 tonnes that remain we hope to put our new mill, delivered soon through it’s paces this November. Looking for a silver lining here, we feel that it will give us the time to rip out the vinyard and replant the olive trees that we wanted.

We will be treating this crop with a spraying of clay to keep the dreaded olive fly at bay, hopefully. This is a new method for the organic minded and still pretty experimental. Pictures will be posted soon of a very white olive grove!

So here we are after many years of work with our first cuve of extra virgin olive oil ready for the market. We have produced an aromatic oilve oil that is rich in polyphenols with an ardent flavour. Having picked the olives mid november when they were just changing colour we ensured a clean vegetal taste that warms the palate giving an oil that is ideal for high end cuisine useable by itself on salads or grilled fish for example.

We have chosen packaging that will be ideal to offer as gifts or keep for oneself and our stoneware bottles are of course reuseable. We also offer a spray version that is great looking for the table and extremely handy in the kitchen.

We look forward to sharing our adventure as we add to our 1000+ olive trees and install an olive mill this fall in partnership with CLOS ROMAIN without whom this would have not been possible. They produce a mild velvety olive oil as well as full bodied organic wines using traditional methods such as terracotta amphores. Check out their eco-gites situated on a 750 acre domaine with stunning views.