Olives Et Al Full Moon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

The Full Moon Oil – Harvested and Pressed under the Full October Moon 2024. 500ml All Sold Out - still have some 250ml

This extraordinary oil comes from the same estate as our House Oil: Naturvie in Extremadura in the SW corner of Spain near the border with Portugal. Naturvie is an old estate brought back to life by a very old friend and colleague, Fernando Sanchez Mohino y Arias whose family have owned it for many generations. Fernando has breathed new life into the place, planting many new trees of different varieties and really experimenting with different styles and blends of oils. He is generally regarded as one of the best olive oil producers not just in Spain but across all olive growing countries.

The pictures you see alongside the oil are of his estate taken during one of the early Full Moon Harvests.

This oil has to be experienced through every sense – the smell, colour, feel and taste is simply extraordinary – a luminous green with a heady aroma of everything autumnal – freshly mown grass, newly fallen leaves, an earthy edge and a taste that is both ancient and fresh at the same time. The taste is so big it takes your breath away – peppery, raw and just a bit visceral. It’s something that only comes your way once in a blue moon… very limited quantity and once it’s gone it really is gone…

A Bit (well quite a lot actually) More Knowledge...

Now, The Full Moon Oil will certainly keep until Christmas so no need to worry about giving it as a present – it will still be good. As for your enjoying it, I should crack it open and enjoy it just as it is right now. In many ways Olive Oil is a like wine – there are many different varieties and styles and a lot of different qualities varying from mass produced down to fine single estates. What you have here is a fine single estate oil.

However, unlike wine, Olive Oil does not improve with age and in fact is deteriorating from the moment it is pressed. When first pressed it is packed with highly volatile polyphenols that rapidly disperse over the first few months – these are what make a fresh oil so precious and rare – most producers would never release an oil until those polyphenols had settled down a bit – this is normally around February to March following pressing in the October or November the previous year.

The fresh oil is often to referred to as “Free Run” a term dating back to when olives were pressed manually and the weight of the olives forced oil to freely run from them – this was normally the preserve of the mill owner as it was considered to be the very finest quality that could ever be gained from the olives.

So in effect, you have something very similar.

Just so as you know, to make just one litre of top flight extra virgin takes around 5kg of olives which is around 1000 individual olives so in a quarter litre (250ml) bottle you have the output of 250 olives.

The best way to really experience this oil in full is to get a decent wine glass, ideally one that is narrower at the lip than in the bowl (this helps concentrate the aromas) and pour about a dessert spoonful into the glass and just marvel at the colour – it will be the brightest green you are likely to have ever seen an oil.

Then, place your hand over the top of the glass and gently warm it in your other hand whilst swirling it around the glass – this coats the glass and creates a much larger surface area allowing he polyphenols to evaporate and fill the glass with the aroma – then, take your hand away and take a massive great sniff – it will smell of everything that nature can give us – green leaves, aromatic herbs, banana, tomato and all sorts of other spices and fruits. The aroma is the first thing that tells us if an oil is of quality. A duff aroma means a duff oil – a rich, fruity and vibrant aroma means you’re in for a treat.

Now to taste it – raise the glass to your lips and take in as much oil as you are prepared to swallow – unlike wine tasting when you are meant to spit it out, olive oil needs to be swallowed. Once in your mouth swirl it around a bit and savour the flavour – the first flavour will be fruity, the this will lead to a gentle bitterness followed by quite a large dose of pepper. This oil, being so fresh, has not yet settled down so it will be intense and unbalanced and therein lies it’s joy.

For me, there is nothing so lovely as having a decent piece of toast from proper bread and pouring he oil onto a large white plate so you can enjoy the colour and simply dipping the toast into it with a little sea salt.

If you fancy developing that a bit then rub the toast gently with a clove of garlic, pour the oil on and top with sliced tomatoes sprinkled with sea salt – you could add a spot of labneh as well. Breakfast of champions.

Other than that, the first night it arrived I poured it over the roasted vegetables we had with our Dukkah Chicken – gorgeous.

All in all, regard it as a precious gift to be enjoyed at it’s freshest – use it as a seasoning and flavour enhancer to all manner of dishes – just use it and use it often. When it’s gone, it’s gone but you will have enjoyed one of the rarest of natural foods…

I hope that helps give you a sense of what you’ve got here!

Full Moon Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2024. Last few remaining.