Oro del Desierto
Organic olive oil from the Tabernas desert, the only desert in continental Europe — over three thousand hours of sun a year and under 180 mm of rain. The mill dates from 1925, was abandoned in the 1970s and has been restored; it now runs on solar power.
Their oils
| Oil | Cultivar | Intensity | Expert | Readers | Availability | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oro del Desierto Picual | Picual | Robust | Not yet rated | — | Not stocked | Read review |
| Oro del Desierto Coupage | Arbequina · Hojiblanca · Picual | Medium | Not yet rated | — | Not stocked | Read review |
| Oro del Desierto Hojiblanca | Hojiblanca | Robust | Not yet rated | — | Not stocked | Read review |
The estate
One hundred and thirty hectares of olives on Finca El Vicario, planted to Picual, Hojiblanca, Lechín and Arbequina, all certified organic. Irrigation is drip-based and stated to use 30–35% less water than conventional systems; mill pomace is composted back into the groves and burned as biomass.
The estate does something almost no producer does: it publishes its polyphenol results by variety and by harvest year, measured by an outside laboratory. That series is the reason our oil pages here can carry real numbers instead of a marketing range.