Oro Bailen

José Gálvez

Coming from a family of brick makers and with a business degree in tow - José Gálvez quite literally knew how to build success. Now known as one of the most meticulous producers in the industry, José only began learning about the nuances of olive oil in the early 2000s. The more he consumed the more it seemed to consume him, so much that he chased a Masters Degree in Oliviculture and Elaiotechnics and an expert course in tasting from the University of Jaén, which he completed by 2006. While most olive oil producers in Andalusia focus on the quantity of oil, José’s dedication to quality means tasting dozens of samples each day during harvest, identifying the most subtle of differences between each sample, and then sorting each batch into the tank that needs it the most.

Oro Bailén's remarkable consistency in quality and taste characteristics are due largely in part to José’s palate and quality control, which drives the entire company forward: "The most fulfilling part of this work is to see and to feel the evolution of the product. How we take care of even the smallest details about the fruit, the harvest, and every process to obtain our final EVOO. And after, to check that the consumers enjoy and value increasingly our products and our effort."

The Land

The province of Jaén, Spain, produces more olive oil than any other province in the world. In the town of Villanueva de la Reina, the gateway to Andalusia in the province of Jaén, resides the groves that produce Oro Bailén: "La Casa del Agua" and "Los Juncales," the former a country farm adjacent to the oil grinding mill on the A4 highway, and the latter a mountain farm in the Sierra Morena. Located just south of the largest areas of Mediterranean forest in Spain, these lands have a wide variety of fauna and flora that gives the land high ecological value. The groves sit at the natural border between the Castilian Plateau and the Valley of the Guadalquivir. The valley provides an opening to the ocean, allowing cloud masses to enter and, aided by the dominant winds, cross the corridor from West to East. This effect also produces important rainfall during the spring and autumn. This exceptional location has the optimum climate for obtaining oils with a special aromatic quality, with average annual temperatures between 16-18° C, with an average rainfall of 550-700 mm/per year.

GALGÓN 99 works with an internal department of biologists and agricultural engineers who handle the entire process of managing the farms, including plague control, watering and fertilization plans, observing the olives' maturity rate, and ensuring that objective decisions can be made by management. The groves' farmers use the latest technologies and automatisms to perform irrigation by sectors, land observations and testing, as well as fertilization deployed through the irrigation system (ferti-irrigation). This technique allows the fertilizer to dissolve with the water so the plants' anabolic process occurs more efficiently.

Harvest & The Trees

The olive harvest begins in mid-October with picking teams comprised of approximately 60 local workers. The oldest olive variety in the groves is Picual, with trees as old as 100 years. Although it adapts badly to prolonged droughts and excessively chalky, calcareous grounds, Picual grows vigorously in the region, with its short branches quite resistant to frost. The ease of cultivation and high quality oil makes Picual a valuable contributor to Oro Bailén's business. Harvesting of Picual olives typically takes place in the morning, as the pickers using mechanical combs require daylight to work. The other principal variety on the estate, Arbequina, has become the base of most modern plantations around the world because its low vigor allows for high-density planting. Unlike Picual, the super-intensive Arbequina groves can be picked 100% mechanically. GALGÓN 99 deploys their straddle harvesters at night so the olives collected can cool off in the absence of sunshine. Arbequina olives provide a steadiness to the production, as they have high resistance to cold and adapt well to the calcareous soil. Recently Oro Bailén added Hojiblanca olives and the Italian olive variety, Frantoio, to their production. The oils from these olives made their debut in the 2018-19 season.

Sustainability

The makers of Oro Bailén consider respect for the environment among the most important principles of their business. Although not yet practicing full ecological farming, their integrated production involves the use of pruning waste as organic fertilizer, turning waste pomace into biofuel, and transporting the alperujo (the mix of olive water and organic fibers) for chemical processing where it can become a fuel source, animal food, pharmaceutical, or other product. At any given time, approximately 50% of the soil in the groves will have a vegetation ground cover which helps reduce both soil erosion and the irrational use of herbicides. This natural practice improves the micro-habitat of the native fauna, which in turn benefits the ecology of their region. Furthermore, all the extra virgin olive oils obtained and released under the brand name 'Oro Bailén' derive exclusively from the olive groves of GALGÓN 99, completing guaranteeing not only the safety of the food, but also its traceability.