Marques de Valdueza

Twenty-two years ago we met Don Alonso, the Marquis de Valdueza, who was introduced to us by a mutual friend. As we often feel we did not think that we needed to add another oil to our list. But two hours later, we had a new supplier, charmed in to submission by him and by his son Fadrique, who had recently joined the family agricultural business, and by the quality of the oil and its packaging.

The surging popularity of olive oil in the late 80s and early 90s led to Italy exporting more olive oil than they could produce. To keep up with demand, commercial producers bought in oil from Spain and elsewhere, bottling and labelling it as Italian--perfectly legal at the time--and sold it to the world.

The Valduezas had for generations been growing olives and grapes for bulk sales and for personal use. The 200-hectare estate in Merida, Extremadura, so far west it is only twenty-five miles from the Portuguese border, has been in the family since 1624 and there are records of olive oil being produced on the farm since the time of the Romans.

Alonso, The Marquis of Valdueza, decided to compete with the Italians and produce an olive oil that would launch Spain onto the map of serious producers. He embraced technical advances to create this oil and twenty years later his son Fadrique, who now leads this sophisticated operation, is still embracing advances. In 2004 they brought in the renowned agronomist Cristino Lobillo Rios and under his advice cleared old trees and laid an underground irrigation system. They decided against leaving the olives on the trees to become fully ripe, as was the custom in Spain, but instead to pick their olives early to capture their individual flavours. A state-of-the-art mill was installed, and the family worked with a UK design agency to create their packaging.

Using a blend of four olive varieties the family created a beautifully balanced oil: sweet, round and without a great deal of bitterness. The local Morisca olive is sweet and not very peppery. It is often considered to produce a not very stable oil so must be cleverly blended to allow its positive sensory attributes shine. The Arbequina olive is very aromatic, but alone its flavour is not long lasting. The Hojiblanca olive produces an oil which is fruity and sweet and a little peppery at the end. Finally, the Picual, is lacking in the fruity notes, but for what it is lacking it makes up in bite – it is strong and peppery.

Each olive variety is picked when the olives have reached the perfect level of ripeness and taken straight to the mill. They aim to begin milling within one hour of the olive being plucked from the tree. After milling the individual varieties, the oils are left to settle for at least two weeks before being tasted and blended. It is only after this fortnight of resting does the family believes the oils’ true aromas and flavours will shine and allow them to create the perfect blend.

It was once described as

‘An aristocrat among olive oils, and is, like the Marques and son, carefully bred and gently insistent. Looking to give it a name I pronounce it ‘esupendo! And Fenomenal! But whatever you call it, Marques de Valdueza is the name in Spanish olive oil.’