Masía El Altet

Masía El Altet is in a narrow valley between the Font Roja and Sierra de Mariola Natural Parks, in the heart of the Alcoy mountain range. It is, most of all, a family-run olive mill on a rustic estate that extends over an area of ​​70 hectares in the interior of the province of Alicante. Its more than 14,000 olive trees, located at an altitude of 850 m and a distance of 30 km from the Mediterranean, share their environment with pine forests, savin junipers, prickly junipers... and the ground which is carpeted with up to 1,200 varieties of medicinal and aromatic plants. This is an idyllic spot, very different from the renowned golden sands of the coast.

The recent history of Masía El Altet dates back to 1988, the year in which it passed into the hands of its current owner, Jorge Petit. It was precisely at that time that up to 2,000 olive trees of the native Genovesa, Blanqueta and Alfafarenca varieties were catalogued. Soon afterthat 3,000 Arbequina, 7,000 Picual and 2,000 Changlot Real (another native variety) trees were added.

Due to their privileged location, these trees receive water from the surrounding mountains which, in turn, serve as natural protective agents against both pollution, pests and diseases. Moreover the estate makes use of the most avant-garde technology which controls the temperatures at one meter below ground, where the roots of the olive trees are. The data is then all brought together on a central computer. Each variety of olive is harvested at just the right moment of ripeness and is transferred to the oil mill, quickly and without damage, where the juices are extracted with all their properties intact using mechanical procedures and at controlled low temperatures. At Masía El Altet we are ‘obsessed’ with temperature and this can be seen in the stainless steel tanks in which this juice is stored (many of them equipped with ad hoc created refrigeration systems) and in the cellar where they are stored which is air-conditioned.

The first great harvest of Masía El Altet was in 2005. Since then, its EVOOs have been won more than 600 national and international awards.

Colour: Intense green.

Aroma: medium-high fruity notes of freshly cut grass, lawn, alfalfa, wheat and spring green barley, green banana, fig leaves, green almonds (both the fresh husk and the green nut itself), tomato leaves and green tomato, apple, all sorts of hints of the flowers and aromatic plants of the Sierra de Mariola and artichoke.

The first impressions in the mouth are sweet and full followed by a very balanced pungent and bitter taste. Herbaceous notes are perceived, such as those described above, of great complexity: green banana, artichoke, tomato and tomato leaves, freshly cut leaves, russet apple and many other subtle after tastes. A very persistent oil.

Varieties: a "coupage" of Genovesa, Blanqueta, Alfafarenca, Picual and Arbequina.