Tel: +27 021 869 8571
Email:  extravirgin@vesuvio.co.za
Website:  www.vesuvioestates.co.za

In this mature Vesuvio grove, trees are cut down to generate new growth. White paint protects old trunks against sunburn.

I grew up on a farm which had a huge olive orchard and while we pickled our own olives for home use, the bulk of the crop was sold to an Italian family in Paarl who turned the olives into oil, some of which was returned to us for use at home.

Some years ago I picked up my first litre bottle of Vesuvio Extra Virgin Olive Oil and became hooked on South African produced oil. At every available opportunity, olive fairs, food festivals and open air markets where there was a Vesuvio stand, I bought litre bottles, eventually getting to know Gert and Alinda van Dyk – Gert heads up Vesuvio Estates – quite well, passionate about great oil they are.

Vesuvio Estates has a history dating back some fifty years when extra virgin olive oil was produced on a farm called Agterdam by means of a traditional press and marketed under the name Capriolio.  Later a Rapanelli Sinolea extraction system was introduced.

Enter in 1972 Dr Carlo Castiglione, who majored in olive culture at the University of Naples.  Dr Castiglione joined the Clifford-Harris Group, which then owned Agterdam, for a period of five years concentrating on the propagation of olive trees, table olives and production of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Here he introduced intensive planting of olive trees, irrigation by micro sprinklers and the first continuous cycle olive oil extraction plant, made by Rapanelli, was installed in South Africa. Olienhof Farm in Wellington became part of the company which produced table olives and oil under the Olienhof label.

In 1996 the sadly neglected farms came on the market and were purchased by Arturo Dotoli from Naples.  He named the farms Vesuvio after Mount Vesuvius on whose slopes near Naples in Italy he was already producing Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the best of Italian traditions.

Arturo was a friend of Carlo Castiglione in Italy, so he was an obvious choice as General Manager. The farming operation began in earnest, the buildings were given a facelift, and the trees responded generously to good orchard management and production turned around dramatically.  A new Rapanelli continuous cycle extraction plant was installed and in 1997 the first award winning Vesuvio Extra Virgin Olive Oil was pressed.

Husband-and-wife team Gert and Alinda van Dyk joined the company in 2002 and during that year an additional 15,000 olive trees were planted.  In 2003 Carlo retired from full time occupation though he remains part of Vesuvio Estates in an advisory capacity.  In 2004 further development took place when more land was made available.  The olive oil factory was expanded and a state of the art extraction plant, the largest extraction plant of its type in the Southern Hemisphere, was commissioned from Rapanelli and installed into the newly upgraded factory.

Today Arturo is still involved in all aspects of the farming, production and marketing of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Gert van Dyk, General Manager and Oil Maker ably assists him. Gert has an Agricultural background, a passion for olive oil and a sound knowledge of what constitutes Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Vesuvio Extra Virgin Olive Oil is produced from handpicked olives, plucked at their peak, and nurtured and bottled on the Vesuvio estate in the lovely Paarl area of the Western Cape. You’ll love its fresh aroma, capturing the perfection of pure olives.

Modern Culinary Oil Dispenser

You’ll find it ideal for cooking, dressings and sauces.  It’s rich in Vitamin E, a powerful natural antioxidant. Importantly, the natural free acidity is less than 0.8%, and it contains no cholesterol or sodium, reducing the risk of heart disease.  Enjoy a gourmet oil that is 100% natural, free of additives or preservatives, and which is perfect in its individual blend of fruitiness, appropriately attractive slight bitterness and optimal pungency, varying slightly according to climate and season.

At Vesuvio Estates, quality is of paramount importance.  High Standards of Hygiene and careful handling of the product from picking to bottling is the guarantee of quality.  Processed under exacting conditions, cold pressed at less than 30°C to ensure complete retention of valuable properties, Vesuvio is one of the finest Extra Virgin olive oils available today.

Vesuvio Natural Extra Virgin Olive oil is available in three sizes, namely 250 ml, 500 ml, and 1 Litre bottles.

Vesuvio Olive Oil is available throughout South Africa in Deli’s, farm stalls, participating Pick ‘n Pay, SPAR and Woolworths stores.

Slaley is a village outside Newcastle, England. And Slaley Hall was the ancestral home of The Hunting Family, current owner of Slaley in Stellenbosch. The Huntings have a history in shipping going back to the 19th Century and in aircraft manufacturing and operation from the time of Lindsay’s grandfather, Gerald Lindsay Hunting, who was invalided out of the army having been badly wounded at Ypres during WW 1. Land, sea and air are perennial themes in the history of the Hunting family and you will find these reflected on the labels of the Slaley range of wines.

Slaley Olives

The Cellar on Slaley was built in 1995 when Lindsay stopped delivering his top quality grapes to Nederburg, and started producing Slaley’s own wines. The main focus is on the production of quality red wines with a limited amount of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

The farm is situated on  the western slope of the Simonsberg, which is characterised by a moderate climate in a winter rainfall area. Vineyards and olive groves are planted at an altitude of 300 to 400m and benefit from the cooling effects of the breezes coming in from False Bay.

Slaley Olive Oils

Another attraction for me at Slaley is their superb cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Unfiltered and available in two varieties, a Sevilano Leccino Mission blend and my favourite, a single variety Leccino. Leccino produces oil of fruitiness, barely bitter and though pungent, somewhat sweet and used as a dressing on a salad, one of my best. The oils and preserved olives and preserves are available at the tasting room that is open Monday to Saturday and Public Holidays.

Slaley Olive oils are also available at leading supermarkets in the Western Cape.

Slaley Estate is on the Kromme Rhee Road (M23), off the R44
between Stellenbosch and the N1.

Tel:  021-865-2123

e-mail:  info@slaley.co.za Web: www.slaley.co.za

Giulio Bertrand

When Giulio Bertrand took ownership of Morgenster Estate, situated in the heart of the Cape winegrowing region in Somerset West, in 1992 during his supposed retirement, he was inspired by the natural beauty of the farm and began dreaming of the olive groves and rolling vineyards of his native Piedmont.  Giulio Bertrand – industrialist, yachtsman and conservationist – is so self-effacing that he prefers to talk about his oil rather than himself. But he admits to a love of South Africa, instilled during regular business trips from Italy, which have enticed him to spending nine months of the year in the Cape.

Morgenster Olive Groves

Since Giulio’s acquisition of Morgenster the place has undergone an agricultural transformation and become a producer not only of three of the most sublime wines to come out of the Cape of Good Hope in recent years but a benchmark olive tree nursery and the provenance of a range of olive oils and olive products produced in the style of Giulio’s homeland, Italy.  And when Italians do things seriously, they do them to the outer limits of perfection.  In Giulio’s words, “where there is passion, there is no compromise.”

Morgenster Liquid Gold

The Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a blend of the oils of a variety of different olives grown specifically for their oils.  I tasted the individual Leccino oil prior to blending of the 2006 vintage, delicious peppery green and gently bitter and all I thought of was some rocket, lemon squirt, salt and pepper to make the most perfect of salads.

The final blend is bemedalled and becrowned with international awards.  Amongst them the Orciolo d’Oro from Italy where it was the first South African olive oil to receive the prestigious L’Orciolo d’Oro award. This Italian challenge was opened to foreign producers for the first time in 1999. The Morgenster Extra Virgin Olive Oil received the L’Orciolo d’Oro award in 2006 for the eighth consecutive year.

The oil has also won a gold medal from the Los Angeles County Fair.  It’s been rated “Best of Southern Hemisphere” by South African consumers as the finest Olive Oil, and “Oil of the Year” in the Southern Hemisphere New Season Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition in Australia in September 2003.  It was also judged to be The Best Blended Olive Oil in the world – judged from 3000 entries in an open competition held in Italy – L’Extravergine earlier this year.

Lemon Olive Oil

The Morgenster Lemon Enhanced Olive Oil is made by infusing lemon rind in the oil before the final blend to add an extra flavour dimension making it, in well known Cape Town chef Peter Goffe Wood’s words “a perfect accompaniment to seafood and poultry dishes, and adds a delicious zing to salad dressings.”

White Truffle Olive Oil

Morgenster’s White Truffle Flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a blend of the Estate’s oil with white truffles from Piedmont, Italy – a true classic.  My best way of using it is to trickle it over cooked homemade pasta with fried sage leaves, and to enhance a risotto.  But it needs to be used sparingly like a fine French perfume.

Morgenster Black Olive Paste

We are very fond of the Morgenster Black and Green Olive Pastes made from the Estates choice olives, blended with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.  Packed in 130g jars, they contain no preservatives and are ideal for spreading on bruschetti to serve as an appetiser or underneath grilled goat’s cheese with a swirl of oil on top or just stirred onto hot home-made pasta with curls of Parmiggiano Reggiano taken off with a potato peeler.

Morgenster Green Olives

Morgenster bottles excellent olives for the table.  The olives are sorted by hand by trained staff to ensure only the best fruit is used.  Kalamata Olives which are renowned as being the finest black table olive – large and fleshy with its distinctive flavour and small pip.  The green olives are Nocellara del Belice Olives from Sicily, an olive the Italians love to eat.  We just loved them whole with their lovely crunchy texture and ‘creamed nuts’ taste.

Says owner Giulio Bertrand: “It became my dream to produce the very best extra virgin olive oil at Morgenster, and now I am really fortunate to be able to witness those dreams coming to fruition.”

This is a clear testimony to the Morgenster philosophy of quality from olive grove to the table.

The Morgenster Olive Product Range is available at selected Delicatessens, Caterix, Pick ‘n Pay, Spar and Shoprite Checkers stores in the Western Cape, greater Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and the Eastern Cape. Soon to be available in Natal and the Lowveld.

Telephone [022] 448 1635

Email:   info@kloovenburg.com
web: www.kloovenburg.com

The du Toit family – note the boys red legs from grape stomping for their Eight Feet Wine

On Kloovenburg Estate in Riebeek Kasteel, while Pieter is the wine farmer, also making great Shiraz [do Olives and Shiraz go hand in hand?], his wife Annalene is the olive specialist. The idea of planting olive trees was conceived by Pieter’s father, who believed that diversification was important, in order to keep the farm busy when the grape season was over. Today the harvest of olives is produced by three different cultivars.

Kloovenburg Olive Oil Products

Annalene, who started selling a range of bottled olives from the farm house, has since made a name for herself with the quality of her constantly evolving range that includes olive oil, bottled olives, tapenade and several other fascinating olive-related products.

L’Extravergine – A Guide to the Best Certified Quality Olive Oil in the World is edited by Marco Oreggia, one of the foremost expert tasters of extra virgin olive oil in the world and published by Cucina & Vini in Italy.  In 2005 449 producers were selected after more than 3.000 tastings and the 15 top International producers named, Kloovenburg was nominated Migliore Olio Extravergine di Oliva – Fruttato Intenso.

IA new release from Kloovenburg includes two choices of delicious dipping oils.

A tantalising blend of their award-winning olive oil delicately flavoured with quality herbs and spices, it’s a taste-sensation that’s preservative-free and forms the perfect accompaniment to fresh crusty bread or drizzled over salads, jacket potatoes, pastas, pizzas or meat dishes. Flavours include chilli and garlic as well as oregano, basil and black pepper.

Kloovenburg Olive Orchards

Kloovenburg’s serene groves of grey-green olive trees, covering 30 hectares, produce many tons of fruit per season. Drawing on the traditions of Mediterranean countries, Annalene is expanding the non-culinary uses of olive oil into the area of beauty products. These items, together with novel fragranced ‘play dough’, are on sale at the farm and most outlets that supply Kloovenburg wines including Cape Town’s Fleur Deli, Andiamo’s and the Olive Tree in Stellenbosch as well as the Tapenade Olive Shop in Gauteng. Designated Spar outlets in Gauteng and the Western Cape also stock the oils.

Olives

While the production of that precious European liquid, wine, was first diarised by Jan van Riebeek in the middle of the 17th Century, the production of the other great European liquid, olive oil, is a fairly recent trend in South Africa.

The winelands of the Cape, and indeed areas beyond, are producing superb quality oils and have the gold medals, the cups and the accolades all over the world to prove it.

The International Olive Oil Council will tell you that only Extra Virgin and Virgin Olive Oils are natural and unrefined.  All other oils which are labeled Pure Olive Oil, Olive Oil or Light Olive Oil are refined or contain only a percentage of refined olive oil.

Olive Oil

The main characteristic of Extra Virgin Oil is that is has a free acidity of below .8% and the Virgin Olive oil has free acidity of below 2%.  These oils are Cold Pressed which maintains in the oil the temperature sensitive vitamins, anti oxidants, fragrance and flavour compounds.

Other important characteristics are

the variety of olive used in the case of a “single variety” oil which will have very specific varietal notes

or the mix of different varieties used in a blend

the effects of the micro-climate of the area in which the olives are grown

the ripeness of the fruit

the time lapse between picking and pressing

freshness of new season oil

the ‘mouthfeel’ of the oil

Olive Oil in a spoon ...

Extra Virgin Olive oils are usually divided into three styles, intensely fruity, medium intensity and delicate.

In cooking it is advisable to use an oil the flavours and aromas of which will complement the food.  As an example meats for grilling require the more flavourful oils, fish and chicken an oil of lesser intensity and a delicate oil is best in a mayonnaise or a dessert like a Polenta and Olive Oil Cake.

There are about 20 different olive varieties grown in South Africa.

Snippets about olive oil:

All olive oils contain the same number of kilojoules.

The olive harvest in South Africa takes place between March and June/July every year and by August/September the fresh oils are available. Unlike wine, olive oil does not mature with age – it should be consumed as fresh as possible to derive most benefit  from the culinary  aspect as well as healthwise, certainly within 18 months.

Olive oil contains high levels (65 – 85%) of monounsaturated fatty acids which maintain the healthiest cholesterol balance. This is more than most cooking oils.

A healthy cholesterol balance protects the heart and arteries from plaque build-up.
The antioxidants also maintain the integrity of the oil by protecting it from oxidation.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is rich in Vitamins E [a powerful antioxidant], A, D and K.

The monounsaturated fat can benefit non insulin dependent diabetics.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is unique amongst vegetable oils in that it can be consumed in its natural state without any need for refining.

Air is enemy No.1 of Extra Virgin Olive Oil – keep your oil as air tight as possible. If buying larger quantities, decant the oil into smaller containers to protect it from air until being used. Keep the oil in a cool, dark place.

Do not store olive oil in the fridge, it will solidify and condensation will promote oxidation.