Frequently asked questions

MURO comes from a single nine-hectare grove in the valley of Avidagos, in Trás-os-Montes, north-eastern Portugal. There we tend three native varieties: Cobrançosa, Verdeal Transmontana and Cordovil. We pick in November, while the olives are still green to purple, and within ten hours they are in the press. Each harvest is bottled on its own and never blended with previous years.

Colheita is Portuguese for harvest. Every bottle of MURO carries the year of its harvest, such as Colheita 2025. That way you always know exactly which oil you have at home.

Bitterness and a peppery tingle in the throat are signs of a fresh, early-harvested oil. They come from polyphenols, natural compounds found mainly in young, green olives. Professional tasting panels regard fruitiness, bitterness and pungency as the three positive attributes of olive oil.

Although our olive grove is certified organic, our oil does not carry an organic label. In other words: we guarantee that we use no synthetic herbicides, pesticides or artificial fertilisers in our grove, and we never irrigate: our trees live on rainwater alone.

We do not have a press of our own. We press at a professional mill a few kilometres from our grove, where we are present at every pressing. Our olives are pressed in a separate batch, never together with anyone else's.

Every harvest is examined by an independent laboratory: a chemical analysis, an official panel test and a polyphenol measurement. You will find the results and the full reports on our Specifications page.

Olive oil: the fresher, the better. Olive oil is essentially a fruit juice. It is pressed from fresh olives and, like any juice, it is at its best shortly after pressing. That is when the fruity aromas, the gentle bitterness and the peppery finish are at their strongest. And that is exactly where the valuable polyphenols and antioxidants are found.

Good olive oil does not spoil quickly. It can remain usable for several years. But usable is not the same as excellent. Over time, oil loses its freshness, its flavour and part of its health benefits. The higher the quality, the more you taste the difference.

That is why we recommend using our olive oil within twelve months of the harvest. That way you enjoy the oil as it is meant to be.

Cool, dark and tightly closed, and never next to the cooker. Light, heat and oxygen are the greatest enemies of olive oil. Our bottle and non-drip pourer were chosen to keep out light and oxygen as well as possible.

Email us at muro.partners@telenet.be.