About Esporão > Alentejo

The Olive Groves

The Olive Groves

Esporão extra virgin olive oils are the expression of our land, the beautiful Alentejo region of Portugal. Our olive trees have been planted over time and are still here teaching and inspiring us every day.

We protect native olive varieties that are carefully selected and cold pressed in our olive mill at the Esporão estate. We only use sustainable processes to respect both nature and people, and ensuring that all the nutrients, aromas, and flavors are preserved.

Located in the Alentejo, Herdade do Esporão has unique conditions for agriculture. The olive oil venture began in 1997, and currently some 100 hectares of organic olive groves contain four different varieties.

It all started with the planting of Olival dos Arrifes at Herdade do Esporão in 2007. This 80-hectare olive grove takes its name, Arrifes, from its steep hillsides with rocky soil that make the trees more resilient, in a balanced ecosystem rich with biodiversity. Planned from the start as an organic grove, it contains two varieties, Arbequina and Cobrançosa. The latter, though native to the north-eastern Trás-os-Montes region of Portugal, has thrived in the Alentejo where it yields fresh, fruity olive oils that are predominantly herbaceous, with hints of newly cut grass.

Arrifes Olive Groove
Next to the emblematic Herdade do Esporão Tower stands a small, century-old olive grove, which is also certified organic. These are Galega olives, the oldest and most emblematic in Portugal. Galega olive harvests tend to vary from year to year, and, despite their high fruit production, oil yields are quite low. To ensure the highest quality olive oil, the fruit must be picked while still green to maintain its characteristic sweetness and notes of apple and nuts.
Torre do Esporão Olive Groove
In 2019, about 9 hectares of organic groves were planted in the Cordovil olives. Native to the Alentejo regions of Serpa and Elvas, it is a productive yet rather irregular variety that produces intensely fruity olive oils with complex herbaceous aromas, reminiscent of olive leaves and fresh Portuguese cabbage.
Cordovil Olive Groove
We also have a 6,000 tree, 20-hectare, organic olive grove at Quinta dos Murças, in the Douro Valley, planted in Galega and Negrinha de Freixo olives. As is typical of the region, the plot is marked by a variety of altitudes and sun exposures, by schist soils, and by the characteristic Douro Valley climate.
Quinta dos Murças Olive Groove
In addition to our estates’ olive groves, we also work in partnership with more than 60 local olive farmers, who help us preserve the native varieties and the traditional agriculture of the Alentejo.

Esporão olive oils are milled between October and December, but they require yearlong cultivation, with daily monitoring of the fieldwork on our land and that of our partners.

June 2, 2022