Majorcan Olive Groves
Majorcan Oil is an extra virgin olive oil made with the fruit of the olive tree (Olea Europea) using the Mallorquina or Empeltre present in the Finca Monnaber Nou with 1600 trees on 32 acres, Arbequina and Picual varieties, based on physical processes which ensure that the oil conserves the aroma, taste and properties of the fruit from which it is made.
The soil characteristics, rugged landscape, irregular rainfall and great age of Majorca's olive trees lead to a limited yield of olives that are suitable for good quality oil. At the same time, Majorca's climate influences when it is best to harvest the olives, with an earlier harvest compared to other olive-growing regions. Thanks to all these factors and to the species of olive trees that can be found in Majorca, the oils produced have different organoleptic properties.
There is a sweet type produced in the Finca Monnaber Nou that is made with olives that are beginning to ripen, whose main feature is its sweetness or mildness with almost no bitter or spicy flavour. Alternatively, there is a fruity kind that is made from green olives, whose sensorial properties are strongly characterized by a bitter, spicy quality.
M ajorca has a long history of olive growing, together with the production and consumption of olive oil.
Traditionally Majorcan olive oil has always been well-acknowledged and popular among the local residents and people from other areas with which Majorca has had trading links over the years, particularly the south of France.
The age of the olive groves
According to bibliographical references, the first indications of the existence of olive trees can be traced back to the 15th century included the Monnaber Nou´s olive trees, although olive growing really became more widespread in the 16th century.
As a result the traditional groves on the Tramuntana mountain range are approximately 500 years old, given the fact that the trees have survived over the centuries and no great pest disease or fires are known to have occurred that might have made their general replacement necessary.
In consequence, it can be said that 90% of Majorca's olive trees have an average age of 500 years. So deep-rooted is the idea of Majorca's olive groves, as an integral part of the landscape, that, according to popular local belief, the olives are a thousand years old.
Majorca's remaining olive groves are much more recent, with trees between 5 and 10 years old.
Ancient olive trees, like most of Majorca's, have considerable nutritional reserves in their woody parts and these are mobilized when the fruit is formed.
That is why the aromatic properties of olives from old trees are greater than those of younger trees.
The olives' lipid-based aromatic properties are retained by the oil that is made from the fruit.
Consequently the olive trees' age contributes towards the characteristics that distinguish Majorcan oil, differentiating it from the produce of other oil-making regions. It also helps to give the olives a more regular composition, since the formation of the fruit is not so highly dependent on the season's climatic conditions.
