Olives

At Het Vlock Casteel, we grow three cultivars of table olives, two black variants, Calamata and Mission and one green variant, Nocellara. It is important that olives are planted in sandy ground or soil which drains easily as this provides the best growing environment. The Mediterranean climate experienced here in the Western Cape , with our typical winter rainfall, is also ideal for olive growth.

Compared with varieties grown for oil production, table olives are larger, with more flesh and a smaller pit and are much nicer to eat. Although best for eating, table olives can also be pressed for oil, but the oil is of a lower quality and has a far shorter shelf-life.

The black olives, Calamata and Mission , are at their best when they have turned completely black. When harvested, these olives are bitter and they need to undergo a long process before they are palatable. As soon as they are harvested, they are immediately placed into a 10 salt solution where lactic acid fermentation then takes place for about a year.

The green olives, Nocellara, are at their prime while the olive is still green. When it begins to discolour, it is over-ripe and the fruit will shrink in on itself. Once harvested, the olives are placed in a caustic soda (NaOH) solution for a short time and then thoroughly rinsed before being placed into a 10 salt solution for up to a year.

At the end of this period, the olives are checked to ensure that their bitterness has dropped sufficiently to allow for further processing or bottling to take place. If the olives are still too bitter, then the fermentation process continues.

The green Nocellara is a much softer olive in comparison with other green varieties available in South Africa and visitors are often pleasantly surprised in terms of its taste.

Het Vlock Casteel offers a wide variety of flavoured olives and olive products.