Ponte de Pedra Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Central Portugal is back on our shelves with their fresh October 2026 harvest. Once again, it is a wonderful, light, unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil with a deliciously fresh green and fruity fig like taste and just the right amount of pepper to excite your salads leaves and other foods.
What makes this fresh Single Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil most special is that this first class olive oil is from my Sister and Brother-in-Law's farm in Portugal, Quinta Ponte de Pedra. We first visited their farm in October 2025 and actually witnessed the start of their olive harvest first hand!
How is it best used?
We have quite a number of delicious food recipes that use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, such as our 10 Minute Burrata Starter Recipe.
However, while were out visiting Quinta Ponte de Pedra my Brother-in-Law, Stuart, introduced us to a fabulous new way to enjoy your olive oil at breakfast with another new recipe idea.
Take any jar or pot and fill with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and place in the fridge.
Served directly from the fridge gives a spreadable olive oil. The olive oil will melt on to your toast and bring you much joy as you think of Central Portugal with each bite!
Tasting and using freshly pressed Ponte de Pedra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a fabulous treat that we think all should experience in life.
The fibre of the olives creates a velvety text to the start, as they are still freely circulating in it from the milling process. The vivid green olive oil actually has an aroma of fresh olives or mown grass.
Please be aware that this natural fibre will settle after time and can then be used for adding a little extra flavour into your cooking. A simple drizzle of this oil on a strong green leafed salad, with possibly a little cracked salt over the top, and you will have released a little magic.
Pair this years harvest with our stronger flavoured fruit and balsamic vinegars, such our Black Garlic Balsamic Vinegar, Aronia Berry Balsamic Vinegar or our fruity Scottish Raspberry Vinegar and Bramble Vinegar for an amazing salad dressing.
Please be aware that stocks of early extra virgin olive oil are extremely limited again this year, so it's first come first served!
How is this made?
Quinta Ponte de Pedra has about 300 trees, varying in age from about 30 to 120 years old. There are four olive varieties - Galega, Cornicabra, Picual, Arbequina.
The older and larger trees are Galega, a traditional Portuguese olive variety. Galega is typically described as delicate to medium-intense, with soft, sweet, and persistent aromas.
Tasting notes often mention ripe or slightly green fruit, with hints of apple or fig, and balanced bitterness and pungency rather than aggressive spice.
Typically each batch taken to the press will be combined with approximately 15% of the Cornicabra, Picual and Arbequina varieties, to increase the yield, add some bitter notes and further increase shelf stability of the olive oil. Quinta Ponte de Pedra olives were harvested by hand in mid October.
The summer had been hot and dry, and unlike a very rainy harvest in 2025, the team enjoyed fine weather for all 9 days of harvest.
The quantity of olives harvested was less than in 2025, just 2.6 tonnes compared to 4 tonnes. However, the yields were better than expected peaking at 21%, and returned 470 litres of liquid gold!
The olive oil has an Free Fatty Acids (acidity ) of 0.18 ± 0.02 % and Peroxide Value 5.0 ± 1.1 meq O2/kg in the range of extra virgin olive oil.
