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Thank you to Nina’s Olivar for sending me her organic extra virgin olive oil, for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
When Nina contacted me about collaborating together, her story intrigued me. Because behind every product, every shop, every invention, there is a story and a journey. And it’s those stories in people’s lives, and their unfolding journeys, that inspire me.
Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil…an organic extra virgin olive oil produced by her farm in Spain…has a beautiful origin and an extraordinary ongoing story.
Nina’s Story
Several years ago, a fun family outing became a life altering event for Nina. Captivated by the beauty of Spanish olive groves, Nina bought her own small farm.
Her plot of land, in the Almeria Region in Spain, supports 900 mature Spanish Arbequina and Manzanillo olive trees. The land is classified as organic and every year it undergoes inspections for the renewal of the EU Organic Farm Certificate.
This means that Nina does not use insecticides, pesticides or herbicides on her olive grove. The abundant sunshine and the caressing winds sustain the olive trees, naturally.
Fun tangent story: actor Clint Eastwood once walked this land where Nina’s trees thrive. The desert hills of nearby Tabernas provided the location for Eastwood’s film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
A Different Way to Farm
Due to the drying out of the ground aquifers in the Almeria region, Nina chooses to adapt to different ways of farming. Glenn French, Nina’s farm manager, introduced permaculture farming…a way of achieving high yields and productivity by working with nature in a more sustainable, environmentally friendly way.
Permaculture farming possess three core tenants:
- care for the earth – help all life systems continue to exist and thrive
- care for the people – allow people access to resources they need to survive
- fair share – only take what you need, reinvest any surplus and return waste products back into the system so it’s useful again
Glenn and Nina also collect rainwater using huge swales dug at intervals across the farm. This helps the collected rainwater to sink into the earth.
They plant nitrogen fixing trees such as Robena, Paulina and Acacias throughout the farm to enrich the olive trees. Additionally, lavender is a companion plant for the olive trees and in the fall barley serves as a cover crop to fix nitrogen in the soil.
Producing Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil
Hand harvesting of the green olives occurs during the third week in October. The olives go to the cold press mill the same day they are picked. At the mill, the olives are centrifuged to separate the oil. The entire process takes two to four hours. And the resulting green gold oil is never stored for long in tanks before it’s bottled.
The early green olives produce an extra virgin olive oil with a phenomenal flavor profile and very low acidity. The flavor is classified as fruity and lively, and also grassy, peppery, herbaceous and minty.
Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil is the recipient of the New York International Olive Oil Competition Gold Award for 2020.
My Experience with Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil
I felt excited to receive my bottle of Nina’s olive oil. My first experience with an exceptional olive oil occurred while I toured Tuscany, Italy in 2017. Dipping fresh, warm, gluten free bread into that olive oil, I realized what I’d been missing with cheap store brand versions. Those grocery store brands taste oily….but lack flavor.
I was not disappointed when my bottle of Almeria Gold Olive Oil arrived.
One taste of this fragrant, pungent olive oil instantly transported me back to Italy…or more accurately, to Spain! The quality and flavor are both exceptional.
And I knew exactly how I wanted to savor this olive oil.
Dipping Oil with Roasted Garlic
Remembering my Italian experience, I created a dipping oil using Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil.
The recipe is simple. Add a small amount of Nina’s olive oil to a hot skillet. Add two finely chopped fresh garlic cloves and pan roast until garlic is golden. Stir in one teaspoon dried thyme, one teaspoon dried rosemary and one teaspoon dried parsley. Cook with garlic until herbs are fragrant. Add garlic bits, herbs and a teaspoon of sea salt to one cup of Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil.
Serve with warm, toasty bread and a pasta dish.
I used gluten free loaves, toasted in the oven. And oh my! How delicious dipping chunks of warm crusty bread into the dipping oil. Although I paired the bread and dipping oil with gluten free rotini and sugar free marinara sauce, the bread and oil make a wonderfully satisfying snack…or meal!
Get Your Nina’s Olive Oil
Nina’s olive oil is perfect for stir fries, sauteing, cooking, baking, drizzling on salads…or my favorite, dipping oils.
Visit Nina’s website, for more information about her olive oil and more of her inspiring story.
And then click HERE or on the photo below, to order your own prized bottle of Nina’s Olivar Almeria Gold Olive Oil.
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This looks divine! Olive oil is so delicious, especially with bread! Thanks for sharing.
It’s a wonderful olive oil! And I love how Nina farms.
What a cool story to share. I love using organic, and really admire all the hard work it takes to get that organic label on products! And it never hurts to follow Clint Eastwood 😉
Yes me too! And I loved the Clint Eastwood connection. 😃
I am going to have to try it! I love the idea behind the sustainability as well.
Me too! That’s important to me.
I love a good olive oil to infuse with other flavors for cooking and bread dipping. Very interesting article.
Me too! The roasted garlic and herbs combined with the oil is SO good.
I love buying organic or natural foods. This oil is something I’d use.
It’s so good!
I love how you shared the story behind the bottle! And even more love that no insecticides, pesticides, or herbicides are used!
And how fun that Clint Eastwood has walked her land!
Yes I love her backstory!
Love cooking with olive oil but this one seems more like an addition to the meal. Loved the history and background of this olive oil. Made for an interesting read. The food looks divine. Can’t wait to try this oil. Thanks for sharing.
I love it’s story too! It’s a wonderful high quality oil.
Olive oil is my favorite cooking and dipping oil. I am excited to give Nina’s a try especially since I only by organic olive oil!
Perfect! It’s such a good olive oil.
I can think of some great recipes this would be good for!
I’m enjoying this olive oil!
Great review! I have always admired permaculture methods of farming, and it’s so great that there is an olive oil that honors these mindsets. Permaculture is really what we need to move forward sustainably with everything we grow. The upside is that the food is usually top notch, as you experienced with Nina’s Olive Oil.
Yes I love her dedication to farming sustainability. And the olive oil is marvelous!
Really good olive oil is a perfect base for so many things in the kitchen.
Indeed!
Sounds delicious. I love fresh clean olive oil. I especially love dipping bread into it too with some yummy balsamic and oregano. Mmm… I’m going to see if I can get my hands on this stuff too. Thanks for sharing.
It’s a flavorful oil! Love dipping bread into it.
This looks like incredible olive oil.
It is!
My mouth is watering after reading about the garlic and bread for dipping 😋
It’s SO good!
I love hearing the story behind this olive oil. It’s so easy to take for granted all the hard work that goes into making something like this.
I love knowing a brand or company’s story too!
What a great review! This olive oil looks delicious and the sustainability aspect is definitely a winner for me!
Me too!
Oh that sounds so wonderful! LOVE IT!
It’s good!
I love the permaculture farming tenants! It’s so great how you share the stories and not just the product. I love that connection. And of course, this looks delicious too!!
Thank you. It’s important to me to share the story behind a brand. I won’t collaborate otherwise.
I have not heard of this brand, but I totally love olive oil! Both in Italy and in Greece, we devoured plates of bread and olive oil! Yum!
It’s so good with bread!
Ooh, I love dipping crusty bread into garlic-infused oil.
It’s so good!
Such an informative & interesting post.Learnt so much .A big fan of Olive oil .Will definitely check out Nina’s brand soon. Thank you, for sharing
Awesome!
I love olive oil! And from all I’ve read, I’m going to love Nina’s Oliver Gold Olive Oul!
I just ordered more!