News
Please note - 2022.
We are unable to secure any of the pottles for the Dukkah since Covid as suppliers changed their stockholdings and designs.
Nothing was compatible in size and shape, so we have been forced to rethink the concept.
The Dukkah is now packaged in resealable environmental acceptable compostable pouches supplied by Ecobags.
Supply of all methods of packaging is now at a premium - and orders are having to be made well in advance of requirements to ensure continuity of supply.
2022 Year Growers comment
The 2021 winter was quite dry and warm. Not many frosts recorded. However, the spring was quite cold and dry, which may have had a an impact on the flowering. Our Koroneiki had a good bud set, but instead of the flowers opening, they died off in mass just prior to blossom. I have never seen that occur before. We had a similar situation with Chemlali, with both varieties having a very poor harvest. Talking with other growers they also experienced very low harvest volumes with their Koroneiki variety that they were unable to pin point the reason for.
Fortunately, we did not experience the exceptional humidity over the summer that damaged last years fruit, but it was still high enough to be of a concern.
The summer and autumn were both quite dry which made it more pleasurable for harvesting. The polyphenols were very high this year but it didn't seem to reflect in the oil intensity, some of which are quite smooth without that intense pepperiness. All of our oils tested well this year with respect to Extra virgin criteria.
2023 Year Growers comment
The 2022 winter was quite dry and warm. No significant frosts recorded. The spring was cold and dry, and very slow to get going - which would have had an impact on the flowering.
The summer and autumn were both disaster seasons for any grower, except those wanting to grow grass!!
It was very wet and humid - none of which are suitable for a successful olive harvest.
We had more rainfall in the summer than we had in the previous winter, with a total of 600 mm over the summer period, which is more than half of our annual rainfall and it never let up - going into the Autumn.
There was no heat in the summer days, but the constant rain and predominantly E winds kept the humidity up all summer with 67 -70 % minimum. The temperatures were mainly in the mid to low 20's.
From early April, the fruit started to deteriorate on the trees, which was still 3-4 weeks away from harvesting. Manual removal was accomplished prior to an early harvest. The worst affected were the Spanish, Greek and Nth Africa varieties. Kalamata was too far gone to attempt any harvesting for table olives.
With the poor quality fruit we had both Chemlali and Koroneiki free fatty acid testing above the maximum to quality as Extra Virgin Olive oil. The quantity was also very low for both varieties.
NOTE - The winter of 2023 is also turning into a warm wet winter and high humidity!! NO frosts of any merit to mention as yet (early August).
Please also note - from 2022 comments.
The Dukkah compostable pouches were not sufficiently robust enough during handling, so we have managed to source some glass jars very similar to the original plastic pottles.
2018 Awards - Oliveti Olive Oil Competition
Koroneiki:
'Best in show and Best in class'
Picual and Frantoio:
Silver medals
Gift box range
Due to increasing demand for high quality New Zealand produced products; River Estate has expanded the options for their olive oils in wooden gift boxes (see pictures on right).
We have a choice of 3 quality wooden boxes specifically locally manufactured for us, all packaged with wood wool. Ideal as Corporate gifts for companies looking for a unique gift package.
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Our original single 250ml bottle option presented in a wooden gift box
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2 x 250ml bottles of oil of your choice presented in a wooden box.
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2 x 750ml bottles of oil of your choice presented in a wooden box
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There are other options with the 2 x 750ml box.
It can be 2 x Dukkah instead of second bottle or olives.
Please contact us for the options available. They can be tailored to individual requirements.
Please note that the current 250 and 750 ml bottles as shown, have changed.
We are slowly changing our bottle styles due to unavailability of current designs. We are changing to Dorica style bottles which are slightly shorter for the 250 ml bottles and are cylindrical in shape.
A new label has been designed and will be available in 2018. The photos will be changed when the new labels are available. the 750 ml bottle will also change sometime in 2018 when current stock levels are depleted.
Thank you for your patience.
2021 Year Growers comment
Winter was quite dry and not that cold. We did record a dry year of rainfall for 2020.
We had a very unusual situation in the olive grove which we have never experienced before. The majority of the trees started flowering a month earlier than what was' usual.' We were still pruning and quite a few of the pruning's were in full flower and had set fruit. Those flowers remaining on the tree did set fruit.(usually they die off if they flower early) Then we had a second wave of flowering a month later and they also set fruit. From December right through to harvest we had continually high humidity . We decided to harvest earlier than normal by approx 2-3 weeks.
Because of the high humidity, the first fruit set from Chemlali and Koroneiki was starting to deteriorate, so there was urgency to get it harvested. Unfortunately, Anthracnose disease was also prevalent with the high humidity and started attacking the more ripe fruit. We attempted a manual removal of the infected fruit to prevent a degradation of the quality.
As a consequence, the oleic acid content was high this year. Leccino and Chemlali did not qualify as extra virgin olive oil and Koroneiki just squeezed in to the international standard of free fatty acid content.
2020 Year Growers comment
The winter was back to normal with respect to rainfall after the previous 2 years of record high rainfall. 2020 was a 'on season' for olives. We had a good spring, a little dry though - and the summer started off as usual. Started to dry up before Christmas and the Christmas rain was the last of any decent rainfall until May. The oil is very good quality due no rain, but the fruit remained small as no rain to plump them up. The oils are consequently strong and robust this year.
2018 Year growers Comment
Winter of 2017 started off the new season with a warm wet winter, but with a few good frosts. The winter daytime temperatures were very mild; but the night temperatures dropped down with 21 frosts and some hail. The temperature would drop to nearly zero degrees at night, but rise to 17-19 degrees during the day, hardly enough to call winter chilling, or be of benefit to the trees that we are seeking.
The spring growth started quickly but soon turned to a dry spring, almost in drought conditions by November. December was definitely in drought conditions with it being very dry and warm. There was reasonable flowering on most varieties - but it took about a month for the flowering to be completed due to the weather conditions. Flowering usually takes approx. 14 days
The new years summer months started with cyclones and gales in January. Rainfall got worse with only March below 100mm for the month, right through to the winter months. Summer never really eventuated-_ with nothing like 2016 summer. We did have a high number of very hot and humid days throughout the summer and Autumn.
Concern was mounting with the humidity and plenty of rain to propagate the anthracnose disease. The birds arrived ‘on cue’ and were taking the olives, even though they were not even ripe. The bird problem continues every year. Harvesting started at end of April and early May due the concerns with the humidity and the effect it was having on the fruit quality. Harvesting continued until end of May/June. We had trouble getting the Picual to ripen as the temperatures were still too wet and warm.
Koroneiki oil is quite strong with fresh flowers and a strong finish – very good oil this year, but a very poor yield. Frantoio was a good crop this year. Our very popular Chemlali had another disappointing crop this year.
Picual is back with a reasonable crop with its traditional capsicum flavours this year, though more pungent. Leccino produced reasonably consistent this year.
The oils in general this year are much softer and smoother, probably the rain and lack of heat having a major impact, even though we had to harvest about 3 weeks early.
Manzanillo produced a reasonable crop of table olives, but Kalamata again was disappointing - and with the humidity ruining of the all of the last picking. Picual again had some good quality olives available.
