At the base of a spectacular Grampians escarpment is an olive grove that plays home to the Grampians Olive Co. It’s reminiscent of old Mediterranean groves, with gnarly weather-worn trees planted into rocky soil, fighting the elements to survive. The result is flavourful olives producing bright peppery oil of exceptional quality.
Greg Mathews, in the second generation of his family to run this grove, tells us that this plantation was put down in 1943. It’s a small operation, though 28 000 trees does sound like a lot. All the fruit is processed on site: pressed and bottled. The farm gate is a nice way to sample some of the fresh oil from the most recent harvest. Wow, what a difference in flavour there is from fresh oil! It makes a great substitute for butter, just poured over good bread.
Definitely worth a visit to stock up on high-quality oil for your road trip picnics.
