Quiet continuity.
Extra virgin olive oil, harvested, pressed and bottled in Trás-os-Montes, northern Portugal. From the olive groves my family has owned since the early 1900s.
Two hectares. Local olive varieties. Minimal intervention. Around 250 litres a year.
It starts with the place.
Two hectares of old olive groves, surrounded by smallholdings, forests and wild land. Between the Douro region and the border with Castilla y León.
At 675 metres above sea level, the growing conditions are shaped by rugged terrain, schist soils, hot summers and cold winters.
The landscape is reflected in the irregular layout of the groves, with steep slopes, terraces, stone walls and wild hedges. Mechanisation is unfeasible, making the work labour-intensive and slow.
I let the place and the seasons define the olive oil. I’m not optimising anything.
The groves are farmed with minimal intervention. No irrigation, chemicals or ploughing. The land is mowed only once a year to support soil life and to control erosion. Most work is done by hand.
As a result, annual production is around 250 litres, depending on the season.
Lento olive oil is made from traditional Trás-os-Montes olive varieties — Cobrançosa, Verdeal, Madural and Cordovil — grown in our family olive groves.
After pressing, it settles naturally for several months before bottling. It’s never blended or filtered.
Green fruit and fresh-cut grass, with gentle bitterness and a soft pepper finish.
Details →
The current harvest is available to order. For updates from the groves, follow @lento.pt or join the mailing list to hear when the next harvest becomes available.