How to Taste Olive Oil Like a Pro: A Guide to Tintilla Estate’s Olive Grove
Most visitors come to the Hunter Valley thinking about wine, then discover Tintilla Estate is one of the few properties in the region growing its own olives alongside the vines. Our olive grove has been planted in stages since 1994, and today it includes Spanish varieties such as Manzanillo and Sevillano, the Italian Frontoio, and the Egyptian cultivar UC13A6. Each one brings something different to the table, from mild and buttery through to sharp and peppery.
What an olive oil tasting actually involves
Tasting olive oil properly is a bit different to tasting wine, and it surprises a lot of first-time visitors. The oil is usually warmed slightly in a small glass, cupped in the hand, before you take a short sip and draw in air across your tongue, almost like slurping. That aerates the oil and releases its aroma, which is where most of the flavour actually comes from.
From there, you’re picking up on three main qualities. Fruitiness is how much the oil tastes of fresh olives, grass or green tomato. Bitterness is a natural, pleasant trait in a good extra virgin oil, not a fault. Pungency is that peppery catch at the back of the throat, often a sign of a fresh, high-quality oil. A good oil shows all three in balance, rather than one dominating.
Estate olives and regional oils
Alongside our own oils, we pour Hunter olive oils from local producers at the cellar door, including Belarna Grove, so you can taste the difference a few kilometres and a different variety can make. Our own table olives are hand-picked and fermented in-house, with garlic, lemon and oregano among the traditional infusions on offer.
Beyond the oil
Olives extend well past a bottle at Tintilla. We turn estate-grown fruit into tapenade, blending olives with anchovies, capers and our own Merlot, and the same grove and kitchen produce seasonal jams, chilli tomato relish and vin cotto, made from grape must with citrus and spice, available in limited quantities from January to March.
Booking your tasting
Olive and olive oil tastings run alongside our wine tastings at the cellar door, six days a week, 10:30am to 5:30pm, with extended hours until 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays. We’re closed Wednesdays. Group bookings are essential, so get in touch ahead of your visit and we’ll set aside proper time to walk you through both the wines and the oils.