Millennial olive trees preserved

Barcelona (CNA).- Núria Ventura, the mayor of Ulldecona (next to the Ebre Delta) said full of hope: “I wouldn’t be lying if I said that the olive trees are the apples of my eyes. I sincerely believe that, without a doubt, they are the most valuable patrimony that we have today in Ulldecona and the territory of La Sénia”. The novelty of the initiative, sponsored by the Territorial Association of La Sénia, is not in the extraction of the oil from the millennial olive trees –as it has always been- but in its specificity. The olive oil produced is not just any other ingredient, but a product of its own, a product coming entirely from some of the most ancient olive trees of these lands. It is commercialised by the name ‘1000 Autumns’.
The preservation initiative has saved some of the olive trees, which were planned to be dug up in order to be placed in various gardens for their decorative value. Beyond the initiative to just save the olive trees, these olive oils have also generated interest in the gastronomic world. Pepi Cid of the “Olive Oil Cooperation Group of Montsià” (Acomont) explained that the ranges of tastes that ‘1000 Autumns’ produces includes “notes of freshly-cut herbs, aromas of unripe fruit, the perfect mixture of sweet and spicy, with a slight bitterness and a very residual asperity. She added that “it is a very good quality olive oil and it has forced limited production. We produce around 300 litres annually, with a similar quantity to the one of other producers such as Porta Ferre SAT –who was the first one– and Alboredes i Montebre. We all deal with small quantities because, of course, with millennial olive trees, there are those that exist and no more. That’s it”.

The ‘1000 Autumns’ olive oil and the others from the companies aforementioned, which are produced with only one variety of olive, “the farga olive” from millennial olive trees, are sold via Internet and selected gourmet food shops.. The age of the olive trees can only be measured approximately, but millennial trees are those that have a minimum trunk perimeter of 3.5 metres and a minimum height of 1.3 metres.