We were out picking our wine grapes yesterday. The vineyard we picked from is owned by the father of one of the guys in the winemaking group. The dad also owns the Corto Olive Oil company, and since the grapes were adjacent to their pressing facility, we were given a tour of the place after we finished harvesting. It was fascinating.
Corto has, I believe, one of the biggest olive oil mills in North America. This is their fifth year in production, and they primarily market to restaurants and other food service businesses. They also produce oil that's bottled under labels for some retail outlets. They believe they can produce a product that's superior to most European EVOO at a price that's competitive with the higher end of the mass market. They're trying to hit a sweet spot between the stuff that's $3.99/liter and the stuff that's $30/liter. We were told they are at about the same price point as the best mass market stuff from Colavita (which they consider to be one of the better European producers).
For Corto, it all starts in the fields. They've chosen specific olive tree varieties that are more or less dwarfs, and which can be pruned to no more than about 9" tall. They're planted in rows, spaced the same as machine-harvested vineyrds, and they're planted very closely together. When they harvest, they used modified versions of grape picking machines that shake the fruit off of the trees, collect it underneath, and convey it into hoppers. This can be done both quickly and efficiently - they get about 98% of the fruit off of the trees and almost nothing else. They feel this system is key to high quality oil for several reasons. First, the fact that the trees are relatively small means that they can shake the fruit off while it's at the point of just turning from green to black. In Europe, because of the way the trees are planted, they can't easily shake the fruit off until it's quite black - which makes it overripe according to the folks at Corto. They claim that they can make a fresher, better-tasting, and more consistent oil by harvesting earlier. Second, the olives get to the press within an hour or two of harvesting. Again, this helps maintain a fresh-tasting product. In Europe, the fruit is shaken onto the ground, raked up, and then brought to the mill. Apparently, this takes longer.
Once it gets to the mill, it's pressed settled on one of two processing lines. One line is made up of machinery imported from Italy, the other with machinery from Germany. (We were told the German machines are better-engineered than the Italian ones, but the Italians were much better at promoting their equipment. Let's just say we weren't surprised to hear that.) After it's finished processing, it's stored in huge tanks which are kept at constant temperature and sparged with nitrogen to prevent oxidation. It's only bottled on an as-needed basis to fill orders and to keep a small stock available for internet sales.
After giving us an overhead look at the lines, our host went and pulled a sample of very green oil that was straight off the line and had yet to spend any time settling out. It was deep green, a bit cloudy, and still contained some water. We all had a chance to taste it and it was very good, with very fresh olivey aromas and flavor and only a slight peppery bite. (This is the flavor profile they shoot for).
I have to say that I was very impressed with the factory and with their approach to extracting oil. I don't know enough about this process to know the pluses and minuses of their technique but it all made good sense. I just wish their oil was more available on a retail basis! They do sell via their website. One item that looks interesting is a 3 liter bag-in-a-box of oil. That would seem like an excellent way to keep it on hand without having to worry about oxidation.