Fresh EVOO Bilini 2023

Another olive harvest is behind us. The fresh EVOO 2023 is here. However, this year’s harvest was quite different from the previous ones. Read on to find out firsthand how it went 👇

Harvest Preparations

Every year, significant preparations precede the olive harvest.

This year, we decided to renew three massive cherry trees located in our Proganj olive grove, alongside the activities of removing water sprouts from the base of the trees and mowing all our olive groves. This wasn’t an easy task. After decades of growth, the trees had reached heights of 7-8 meters, becoming a serious problem for both the olive trees around and beneath them, as well as a potential issue for future trimming. So, we decided to trim these trees by leaving only the lower branches. The whole process took around 10 days.

Next came the mowing of the olive groves. As usual, we used a rotary mulcher to cut the wide strips of grass between the rows (see picture below), while a trimmer was used to cut the narrow strips of grass between the trees.

Olive Harvest 2023

I don’t know if it’s my age catching up with me or something else, but this year’s harvest was indeed challenging. We had no control over the most challenging aspect: the relentless weather.

During the preparations for the harvest, we had wonderful weather. I believe not a drop of rain fell throughout September. It was dry right up to the start of the harvest.

After studying the long-term weather forecast, we decided to start the harvest a few days earlier than usual. We usually begin on October 20th, but this year we started on October 17th. The fruit was ripe, ready, and, above all, completely healthy.

Protecting the fruit

On the entire Croatian coast, the olive fly infestation was exceptional this year. Therefore, extra effort and care were required to keep the fruit healthy until the harvest.

This required daily traveling from Pula to Rakovci and back, starting from September 1st, and until the start of the harvest. It involved regularly refilling the fly traps and monitoring the fly activity on the yellow plates strategically placed throughout our olive groves.

In any case, we were fortunate, but most importantly, our fruit is top-notch. Combined with prompt delivery for processing within a few hours of harvesting, and the fact that processing was done at the finest olive mill in Istria 👉 the result is the same first-class extra virgin olive oil Bilini you’ve been used to over the past 8 years (has it really been that long?!?)

During the first few days of the harvest, we had lovely weather.

However, after only 2-3 days, the rain arrived, and – unusually – it has been raining almost every day since 🌦️🌧️

There were days when the rain caught us by surprise during the harvest, and we had to stop for the day and head to the olive mill with just the fruit we had picked until then. The video below vividly shows the weather during some days of this year’s harvest – at least during a part of the day when it was possible to pick.

Fresh EVOO 2023

You know it yourself. At some point in life, everyone gets into an exceptionally demanding and challenging job. And during that time, they regret ever starting it. This was partly the case with this year’s olive harvest.

But just a few days after finishing the harvest, once strength returns to our tired hands and after we’ve had enough rest and sleep, we forgot about all the difficulties and troubles. We are simply delighted that our barrels are filled with top-quality olive oil.

And how could it be any different when we see how beautiful the fruit was this year 🫒💚

As every year, we published the results of the chemical analysis of extra virgin olive oil Bilini. The results are excellent.

As for the taste… the taste is divine.

Purchase our fresh EVOO 2023 in our web shop today 👇