The Grove

Paul and Suzie Adamson planted Harewood Estate in November 2001 with the help of their sons James and Tom. Their grove is located in the heart of the Wairarapa Valley, just over an hour from New Zealand’s capital city Wellington.

Harewood Estate olive grove is framed to the west by majestic mountains, and to the east it is just a short drive to beautiful coastal beaches.

This environment gives us ideal growing conditions – heat in summer to ripen and fully flavour our fruit, and the cold off snow capped mountains to kill bugs in winter so we can grow on organic principles.

Our 400 trees were planted in 2001 and 2003. We grow a variety of trees: Leccino, Frantoio, Pendolino, Picual, Picholine and Koroneki. Our sons help us with pruning, and we are joined by family and friends for selective harvesting of fruit coloured from straw green to purple black during June and July. The olives are immediately taken across the road to the olive mill for cold pressing and the oil is then stored in stainless steel tanks for a short period before unfiltered bottling to retain the full flavour and body of our delicious extra virgin olive oil. Then the harvest party can begin!

We pride ourselves on the very best of controls right from stock selection, planting, grove management, pressing and bottling.  This is reflected in the Cawthron Institute tests that show Harewood Estate olive oil has an incredibly low acidity of 0.1%, well below the qualify level of .8% for extra virgin status as stipulated by the International Olive Oil Council.