Courela do Zambujeiro

Courela do Zambujeiro, a name that means the plot of the old wild olive tree, is a family olive estate about three kilometres from the centre of Redondo, in the Évora district, some 130 kilometres east of Lisbon. It was founded by Eduarda and Michel, who set out to farm organically; Eduarda's family has made port wine and some olive oil in the Douro for more than a hundred years. The estate works around 6,000 Galega trees aged between 100 and 400 years, one of them about a thousand years old, together with some 500 century-old Branquita trees and 2,500 young Cobrançosa trees.

All production is certified. The oils carry organic certification from Ecocert, and the Cobrançosa oil is also Demeter certified, the label for biodynamic farming. The producers describe the farm as self-sufficient: the treatments and fertilisers used in the groves are made and recycled on the estate itself. They attribute the natural scent of the oil to the aromatic herbs that cover the ground around the trees.

The olives are picked ripe and milled the same day in the estate's own mill, using mechanical processes only. The oil is cold extracted, left to settle naturally and not filtered, then kept in stainless steel vats under a controlled atmosphere and bottled only when an order comes in. The range includes extra virgin oils from Galega, Branquita and Cobrançosa olives, oils flavoured with lemon, orange or garlic, and olives in brine.

Redondo is a small Alentejo town known for its pottery, below the Serra d'Ossa and within easy reach of Évora. The estate is a working farm, so arrange a visit or a tasting with the producers before travelling.