ralo 2023 "HARVEST FRESH" Pre-Order Newsletter

 

 

    

  

February 26, 2023

ralo 2023 “HARVEST FRESH" NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends,

The fresh olive oil is here!

PRE-ORDER STARTING TODAY! 

You can place your pre-orders immediately from our Online Store Products page and arrange your curbside pickup any day of the week.

Orders to be shipped will go out starting March 5th.  We will notify you by email when your order has shipped.

See further details below.

   

“HARVEST FRESH" SYNOPSIS

A quick preview: this year's harvest was well above average in terms of quality.  

Many growers began harvesting early to avoid unexpected weather events and rains.  It's a good thing they did as the rains came in mid-November and mostly stayed until the end of the year, with lots of stops and starts.

Our oils for this year are both early harvest oils pressed from mostly-green olives.

We will be adding photos and travel musings at the end of this newsletter on our NEWS page as time goes by so visit again from time to time if that is of interest to you.

 

 

2023 FRESH OILS: KORONI and IONIAN

  

KORONI                             IONIAN 

(Certified Organic 2023 Fresh Oils)

 

For 2023 we have two fresh oils, both certified organic: KORONI and IONIAN.  They are both full-flavoured oils.

Koroni is medium intensity and the Ionian is the strong intensity oil we are accustomed to.

KORONI:  The Koroni grower had been in regular contact with me to let me know that he would be harvesting early and kept me up-to-date with progress. 

Though normally the Koroni oil is amongst the strongest and fullest-flavoured oils we buy, this year it is more delicate, and falls along the medium to medium-high intensity part of the flavour spectrum.

IONIAN: This year's Ionian is from a new olive press I discovered in 2022 that is state-of-the-art and immaculate in every way.  The press and olives is from the same region as our old Ionian grower.

In order to get the quantities we needed of early harvest certified organic olive oil the production of a handful of superb organic growers was pooled.

The oil is a robust, high intensity oil.  Our strongest for 2023.

Here are our 2023 Tasting Notes:

  • KORONI: (MEDIUM INTENSITY): balanced medium to medium high intensity, delicate, "clean" character with measured, noticeable and discrete phases of olive fruit, leafy, grassy and herbal flavour components, mild fruit bitterness, and a lively peppery finish

  • IONIAN: (HIGH INTENSITY): High intensity, robust, full-flavoured, densely packed grassy, bitter fruit, and olive leaf tones, unfolding gradually with a solid peppery finish

    LAST YEAR'S 42TREES - OUR ONLY MILD OLIVE OIL:

    We did not bring any non-organic olive oils for 2023. 

    All we have left are a few cases of last year's 42TREES olive oil which with the passage of time has softened and is our only MILD olive oil.

    So, if you prefer a milder tasting oil then place your order for 42Trees without delay.

    42TREES

    (non-organic, last year's 2022 oil)

     

    THIS YEAR'S PRICES - PRE-ORDER NOW FOR SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS!

    The regular price of our 5L tins of olive oil are $170 for fresh organic and $120 for non-organic (last year's 2022 oil).

    Pre-order prices for our fresh organic oils are as follows:

    • 1-3 Tins: $145/tin [vs $170 regular price]

    •  4+ Tins: $140/tin [vs $170 regular price] 

    REMEMBER OUR OTHER PRODUCTS

    • 500 ml bottles of our olive oils:

               

    ORGANIC IONIAN  and   KORONI                 NON-ORGANIC: 42TREES 

    Our Other Products:   

        

    • Gigantic olives in vacuum packs

    • organic olive oil soap

    • 500 ml balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy

    • 200 ml balsamic vinegar from Greece, traditional Dark and White condiment balsamico (produced at a Greek winery by an Italian expert using native Greek grape varietals)

    PRE-ORDER DEADLINE: TUESDAY, MARCH 21, 2023 at 23:59:59

    You have until March 21st at midnight to place your pre-orders.

    You can have your order shipped to your door or you can arrange a “no contact” curbside pickup in Waterloo.

     

     

    ONLINE STORE, SHIPPING & “NO CONTACT” CURBSIDE PICKUP PROCEDURE

    The pre-order prices for the fresh oils are now in effect and will end on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 11:59:59 pm. As you checkout from our online store you will have two options for your order:

    • 1. Ship or
    • 2. “No contact” Curbside Pickup (356 Cambria Place, Waterloo).

    If you choose “Ship”, we will notify you by email when your order has been shipped along with a tracking number so you can follow its progress to you.

    If you choose “No Contact” Curbside pickup, we will notify you by email newsletter and you will receive an individual "Your order is Ready for Pickup" email once the fresh oils are ready for pick-up.

    All you have to do is send us an email at least 24 hours before picking up to let us know which day and time you are coming, any day, seven days a week.

    Your order with your name on it will be placed on the Order Pickup Table at the side door of Deborah's house at 356 Cambria Place.

    Just pull up the driveway to the side door, look for the post-it note with your name on it from amongst the other orders and away you go!

    Please NOTE:  once you email us to let us know which date and time slot you have chosen, we will NOT email you back.  Take it as confirmed.

    Also, please remember to pick up your pre-orders as soon as reasonably possible.

    Full details on our Online Store.  

     

     

    NEDA RIVER HARVEST - A DREAM REALIZED
    Our family's two tiny olive groves are on the north bank of the mythical Neda River.  
    The Neda River
    Messinia, Peloponisos, Greece

     

    Since 2001 when I started going back to Greece for the olive harvest it has been my dream to harvest the olives and press them into oil on the same day.

    Olives begin to oxidize and ferment the moment they are removed from the tree. 

    The highest quality, healthiest and most aromatic oils are from early harvest olives pressed within 24 hours after the olives are picked - the first olives, not the last!

    (Otherwise, one could harvest for 5 consecutive days and press immediately but the first olives will have been oxidizing and fermenting for 5 days.  Not good.)

    Harvesting alone, for me, it is impossible to pick all the olives from our two groves (approximately 60-70 trees in total) in less than three days. 

    Even with a brother helping me the best we could do was two days.

    This year we hired two Albanian brothers with decades of olive harvesting experience (and decades less life mileage).  It proved to be a wise decision.

       
     

    The first olive fell from the first tree at 8:30 am, by 5:30 pm we were finished and had loaded the crates of olives onto a trailer and pickup truck, and by 10:30 pm the fresh olive oil was ready and packed into our 5L tins.




    The result is extraordinary! 

    The olive oil is super-intense in aromas, grassiness, olive leaf and fruit bitterness and with a lively piquant pepperiness.

    After dreaming about it all these years, finally, an olive oil as perfect as I had imagined.

    Exhilaration

    Immense satisfaction

    Gratitude....

     

    THANK YOU

    We thank you for your continuing interest in our products and your support. Be well.

    Robert & Deborah

    P.S. MORE PHOTOS & TRAVEL NOTES

    (Robert will be adding photos and travel notes to the website version of this Newsletter on our NEWS page in the coming days so feel free to visit again from time to time).

     

    Looking south along the coast, south of Kalamata ... 

    ... and finding this ... one needs to search no further

    Looking north along the coast, north of Kiparissia