2010 was a difficult year in the grove. The weather was
not good for olives and yields were lower than normal
for many growers. Still, the harvest went ahead as usual
and this year, for the first time, we were able to bring
in a tractor-harvester. What a great machine! It grabs
the tree trunk and shakes the olives into a tray a bit
like an upside-down umbrella, all in about 30 seconds!
We harvested the leccino, frantoio and manzanilla this
year but only submitted the frantoio to the judges.
After the angst of the season it was pleasing to be
awarded a silver medal - that makes our frantoio a medal
winner four years in a row now! We also have our new
olive room all finished so storage and bottling run
smoothly in ideal conditions.
River Grove lies
on the banks of the Ruamahanga River in the beautiful
Wairarapa. Situated in the area known as Landsdowne at
the northern end of Masterton, the grove takes up seven
hectares of our 19 hectare property – the balance being
used for grazing beef. Currently we have around 1700
trees, most of which were planted in 2000.
The majority of the trees are the Tuscan varieties
(which are best suited to the Wairarapa), the
wonderfully fruity Frantoio and the delicious, peppery
Leccino, but we also grow the exotically named
Manzanilla, Picholene, Pendolino, Chemlali, Moraiolo,
Minerva, Super and Picuado. The trees flower around
November and the fruit is usually ready for harvest by
June. Family members (and unwary visitors!) are called
on to help with the harvest which takes around three
weeks. Our olives are processed not far away at The
Olive Press in Masterton within hours of harvest and the
aromatic, luscious green/gold oil is brought home and
stored in stainless steel cans ready for bottling.
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