7.12.2022 - Binissaida
October and November have been the months of harvesting and producing olive oil in Sant Joan de Binissaida. With the summer season concluded, the work in the field calls for our attention, and we wanted to share with you how this beautiful process is carried out with great care and attention for our plantation. Are you curious with us?
Menorca, being a good Mediterranean island, has a long tradition in the production of olive oil. Olive trees, a species that can be easily found throughout the Mediterranean arch, are no exception in Menorca. Although oil production is scarce nowadays. However, several estates, including Sant Joan de Binissaida, have opted for the recovery of plantations with varieties such as arbequina and ecological practices to produce high-quality oil.
At Sant Joan de Binissaida, we have extended these practices to many aspects of our estate, such as generating electricity with renewable energy and using a green filter to treat wastewater. Regarding olive planting, the application of permaculture helps to regenerate not only the plantation but also the entire biological ecosystem associated with it. Furthermore, we have opted for a buried drip irrigation system, which allows us to save up to 88% of energy compared to the previous method, which was by sprinkling.
Thus, on the 12 hectares of land at Sant Joan de Binissaida, we have about 1,500 olive trees planted. The process of harvesting the olives is currently done manually. The thinner branches of the tree are shaken gently so that the olives fall onto a net placed on the ground which, once full, is emptied into a container. In addition, with manual shaking, damage to the tree is avoided.
Once the olives are collected, they are passed through a leaf remover to remove any leaves from the tree that may have gotten stuck. In this way, the olives are passed to the mill much cleaner. Entering the mill, the olives are cleaned and de-leafed again, mixing them with a little water within the milling process. This last cleaning step ends with the drying of the olives, which go directly to the crusher and the press. At this point in the process, the product is already a uniform paste that passes through two mixers, where a proportion of water is added, and the mixture is blended for about 10-12 minutes. The next step is to centrifuge the mixture, separating the components, decanting the oil and the remaining paste. As for the oil, it is deposited in a tank through a filter to remove any possible impurities. Once the oil is produced, it is usually left to rest for a few days before bottling, to clean the sediments.
And so we arrive at the can that those of you who have been to Sant Joan de Binissaida already know. A tasty and smooth oil, transparent and of a sweet color, which is one of our most treasured goods.