JOSEPH
McLaren Vale, South Australia
JOSEPH extra virgin olive oils and aged vinegar represent the best of classic Australian ingenuity and produce. Ever since the first bottling of JOSEPH olive oil in 1989, Joe Grilli has been at the forefront of the country’s modern olive oil industry, and his First Run and Cold Pressed olive oils have become ’first pours’ at some of Australia’s finest restaurants.
They are undoubtedly the pioneers of 100% Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil and you can read more about it on our blog post here.
2023 Extra Virgin Olive Oil ‘First Run’
375ml & 750ml
Once a year for a limited time, experience the freshest, most vibrant Extra Virgin Olive Oil that South Australia has to offer. Greener olives picked at the beginning of the harvest (early Autumn) give this a unique cloudy colour, peppery taste and strong fragrance as it is bottled straight from the press.
Tasting Note
The result is something to behold: intense olive fruit flavours blend with a clean peppery finish. This is a textured oil with fragrant notes of green banana, zesty citrus and freshly cut grass.
Growing Conditions
The 2023 harvest was remarkably late due to a cooler, wetter season. This lengthy ripening period led to great quality of fruit and gave ample time for olives to be picked at their most vibrant. The olives arrived at press showing strong flavour and powerful aromatics.
Harvest
The JOSEPH First Run uses fruit picked at the beginning of the olive harvest. The fruit was pressed, blended and bottled in early July. Primo Estate picks the finest parcels from different groves and varieties to produce the best extra virgin olive oil of the season.
Orchard Regions
Since 1989 Joe Grilli has worked with olive growers from the Adelaide Hills and Mount Compass. For close to thirty years, Joe has worked with many of the same growers and has seen groves ripen to full maturity.
Varieties
Coratina, Leccino, Signore
2023 Extra Virgin Olive Oil ‘Cold Pressed’
375ml & 750ml
This is the purest expression of South Australia’s best olives from the year’s harvest with fruit picked in July for a fruitier and more rounded style of oil. Primo estate presses the fruit at low temperatures to ensure purity of flavour, freshness and balance.
Tasting Note
This intense oil combines floral and nutty aromas with a soft, smooth palate. Notes of walnut, almond and ripe banana give way to a clean peppery finish.
Growing Conditions
The 2023 harvest was remarkably late due to a cooler, wetter season. This lengthy ripening period led to great quality of fruit and gave ample time for olives to be picked at their most vibrant.
Harvest
The JOSEPH Cold Pressed uses fruit picked at full ripeness during height of the season in July. The oil was given over six weeks to settle before bottling without filtration to eliminate sediment.
Orchard Regions
Since 1989 Joe Grilli has worked with olive growers from the Adelaide Hills to Mount Compass. For close to thirty years Joe has worked with many of the same growers and has seen groves ripen to full maturity.
Varieties
Frantoio, Coratina & Leccino
NV Aged Vinegar ‘La Casetta’
375ml *
The most fabulous vinegar Joe Grilli ever tasted was made by his grandfather, Adamo. He kept it in barrels in the front room of his ‘casetta’ (little house) and this is Joe’s unashamedly sentimental attempt at reproducing it. *Limited-production.
Tasting Note
The lingering madeirized and slightly sweet flavours of this strong vinegar instantly transforms any dish in which it is used. It is quite sherry-like.
Production
The base wine comes from white grape juice that has been boiled in stainless steel tubs for many hours using the heat from a wood fire. When it cools, fermentation begins spontaneously to produce 'vino cotto' - a rustic, slightly sweet, sherry-like wine. This wine is stored in half-full old oak barrels in the warm ambience of Primo Estate’s vineyard shed. They then introduce a 'mother' culture of acetic bacteria which grows on the surface transforming it into vinegar, which can take almost two years.
Base Wine Variety
Colombard
Aging
The vinegar is aged for at least a further 3 years before bottling.
Uses
At home use it mainly in the classic olive oil / vinegar / salt / pepper dressing for salads.
