Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 11, 2016 - 17

"Our staff and a hired crew picked 44 tons of olives, shattering
any previous record in our two decades of growing olive
trees on Jordan Estate-almost four times as large as the
last harvest of 12 tons."

A

fter a whirlwind, record-breaking
harvest, the 2015 Jordan Estate
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is now
resting in our cellars.
In just 10 days, from November 3 to 13,
our staff and a hired crew picked 44 tons
of olives, shattering any previous record
in our two decades of growing olive trees
on Jordan Estate-almost four times as
large as the last harvest of 12 tons.
The alternate-bearing philosophy of the
trees-one vintage bigger and the next
annual one smaller-may be out the
window at Jordan. We continue to see
growth in total production of olives-
most likely because the trees are coming
into full maturity at about 20 years old.
We've also moved to picking the olives
at a higher maturity level-riper, darker
fruit-than in years past. Riper olives

yield more oil per ton, so that ripeness
decision-based on the chef's desire
for a fuller bodied, less pungent style
of oil-means more oil from the same
amount of trees.
Growing conditions were outstanding
for olives in 2015-no frost or big rains
in the spring and a warm but not-toohot summer, which led to an early
harvest (about three weeks ahead of
schedule). Because the olive trees
bloomed in April before the inclement
weather that hit during the flowering of
our grapes, there were ample flowers
on the olive trees, signaling a decentsized crop.
Just before summer arrived, smallersized fruit was forming on the olive trees,
which we attributed to the drought.
We thought the smaller olives would also

dictate the overall size of the harvest-
but the tiny olives grew to normal size
over the course of the summer.
Our Arbequina olives enjoyed a very
bountiful, very healthy harvest in 2015,
allowing the Spanish variety to play a
bigger role in the bottling. Executive
Chef Todd Knoll loves the round, buttery
mid-palate it brings to our olive oil. Unlike
winemakers, who are constrained by
legal requirements with appellation and
varietal, we have complete freedom in
choosing the percentages of olives that
comprise our master blends. Our annual
blending session, conducted by Todd,
Assistant Winemaker Maggie Kruse and
myself, resulted in a delicious combination
of Leccino, Arbequina and Frantoio oils.
We believe the 2015 vintage is our finest
bottling to date.
17
Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 11, 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 11, 2016
