Val de la Figuera

The farm belonged to three siblings: Pilar, Antonio and Manolo. None of them had set foot on it in years. They let it out season by season to whoever turned up and each tenant worked it their own way. The grove held on because empeltre holds on, but every season it gave a little less.

We bought all 13 hectares and merged the boundaries. We rebuilt the drip system from top to bottom with pressure-compensating emitters, because the land slopes and the last tree was not getting what the first one got. We went over the pruning two winters running to bring the canopy down.

We pick here before anywhere else, the last week of October, with the fruit still green. It gives less oil per kilo and it comes out more bitter. There are 1,800 bottles and they run out.