Discover Premium Olives and Produce at Tintilla Estate
You’ll be in for a treat when you join us for olive tasting in Hunter Valley. We grow a variety of olives on our estate that are ready to enjoy on-site or to take home from our shop. Learn about the types of olives we produce.
We handpick, debitter and ferment our olives before bottling them with infusions of herbs and spices. When visiting us, why not include an olive oil tasting? Hunter Valley offers the ideal setting for a lazy day of experimenting!
Olives & Produce
From ancient times olives and vines were planted together, enjoying the same growing conditions and providing essential ingredients for daily living. Our olives are handpicked, debittered and fermented prior to bottling with various traditional herbs and spices.
We also have Hunter olive oils from local producers on tasting in the cellar door. Vinegar is the by product of winemaking where the wine not wanted for bottling can be utilised. We make both red and white wine vinegar. From season to season we also make fig jams and make mustards.
Olives
The olive trees were planted in stages from 1994 onwards starting with Spanish varieties Mancanillo and Sevillano. These have proved well suited to the soil and climate producing excellent quality fruit. The Sevillano being quite large are almost a meal in themselves. Next, we planted Frontoio, the Tuscan variety, a small olive with a fine nutty flavour. We have Mission, Verdale and UC13a6, an Egyptian olive, all of which we cure using various methods and pickle using garlic, lemon, oregano and secret family recipes to enhance their taste.
Olive Tapenade
Anchovies, capers, lemon juice, Dijon Mustard, garlic and of course our olives all go into this little bit of heaven in a jar. Merlot is added to add flavour and softness.
Olive oils
We have a selection of Hunter Regional olive oils on tasting at the cellar door, currently Lisborne Grove and Wog Hollow.
Verjus
Produced from unripened grapes harvested at verasion when we crop thin. The bunches are destemmed and pressed with the juice being bottled in its unfermented state after settling and being filtered. Ideal for salad dressing, to flavour sparkling water or cooking. Used as a vinegar substitute. Currently not available.
Vinegar
You will find a barrel aged vinegar at Tintilla Estate, all natural by products of the winemaking and tasting that occurs at our vineyard. The vinegar bacteria come from a “mother” culture and live off the alcohol converting it to acetic acid by an anaerobic process. The barrel lids have been removed and covered with muslin to allow air exchange and the natural process to proceed. After ageing in these barrels we blend the final product using a solear method with vinegar aged over seven years in the mix. The vinegar is sterile filtered at bottling to prevent further growth in the bottle.
Vin Cotto
Vincotto is an elixir made of Grape must, cooked with orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg, it is sweeter and thicker than vinegar. It has subtle overtones of spice and the richness of concentrated grape juice. As a condiment, small slurps are drizzled overroasts, and its versatility extends to dressing salads and fruits.
Jams & Relish
We do a range of seasonal Jam’s and Relish’s, homemade and Estate grown here at Tintilla Estate. Chilli Tomaro Relish is one of our most popular or our Fig Jam grown and made here at our Estate.