Olive harvesting at Can Martí

A worker harvesting olives from the olive trees at Mas de la Torrevella

At the end of October, we start with the olive harvest. At the Can Martí estate we have 439 centenary olive trees, thanks to which we make our extra virgin olive oil Torelló, with the arbequina and sabatera varieties.

For 10 days, the estate’s workers harvest by hand – with the help of specialised tools – the fruit of these Mediterranean trees, which decorate our landscape so much.

Olives on the ground at Finca Can Martí

This year the drought has also been felt by the olive trees. The lack of rain during the summer has meant that the trees have not grown as much as usual, the fruit has not taken up as much water and has become smaller during ripening. The oil is expected to be of very good quality.

At Can Martí we harvest the olives gently, taking care not to crush the fruit, thus preventing it from breaking. As we do with the grapes, we harvest the fruit from the olive trees in small boxes to avoid damaging them. In the words of Quim Isart, head of viticulture at Torelló: “we take care of the olives as if they were cherries”. Moreover, when we pick the olives, we always try to ensure the less time possible before they reach the mill, to avoid oxidation.

Bottle of Torelló Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In the production of our extra virgin olive oil we blend equal parts of the arbequina and sabatera varieties. The first – and best known – provides great aromas and, on the other hand, the sabatera – one of the particularities of our estate – gives a great intensity of colour. This combination results in extremely gastronomic oils, powerful, with acidity and an intense green colour.