Waiheke Olive Oil: heavenly
Whether you're dressing your summer caesar salad, cooking your favorite dish on the stove, or noticing fruity, herb-infused olive flavors in your chocolate- olive oil is no doubt a necessity in fine dining. Experience truly high-quality extra virgin olive oil with Waiheke-grown olives. It’s definitely a must when it comes to perfecting your Waiheke experience.
Waiheke is an absolutely fantastic place to grow olives. One of the reasons is due to its unique weather climate. The island actually receives an average of 40% less rainfall than Auckland. This means that the summers on Waiheke are extremely dry and hot, which is absolutely optimum conditions for growing olives. All in all, this means that the olives ripen much earlier compared to the rest of the olives in the southern hemisphere. Wind also proves to be a fantastic aid to growing delicious olives as well. This is because wind wards off issues like a fungal activity that could potentially disrupt the growth of the olives. Due to Waiheke’s island location, the wind does tend to be a common occurrence, which ultimately improves the quality of the olives. Along with this, the soil is perfect for olive groves.
Rangihoua Estate is perhaps one of the most critically acclaimed olive oil producers in Waiheke. In fact, they actually secured a top 20 spot at Flos Olei, making them the only Olive producer from the southern hemisphere to win- that’s no small feat. Rangihoua Estate has over 1,000 olive trees that cascade across 20 acres of land. For those olive oil lovers, you can go on tours and tastings at Rangihoua- plus pick up some supplies for your own collection. If you really want to get your olive fix you can always go to the Waiheke Olives and Artisan Food Festival, which is held on the estate itself.
In terms of the types of olives, Koroneiki and Frantoio shape up as being the best at growing on the island. The olives themselves are super healthy, with no chemical solvents used- which makes for a deliciously guilt-free drizzle in your cooking pan.
So with Waiheke’s sunny, windy conditions and plentiful soil- the olives that are grown on Waiheke produce some of the best flavors out there. With certification from renowned Italian olive tastemakers, Waiheke Olive Oil proves to be an absolute flavor sensation.