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In 2002, the Gálvez-González family decided on a change of direction from their brick making activities, setting their sights on producing top quality extra virgin olive oils. They already had three generations of experience in growing olives, but they decided that now was the time to produce a different level of extra virgin olive oil, and to change our understanding of olive juice – a corner stone of the Mediterranean culture and cuisine.
Using their premises, they embarked on a project to produce top quality olives on their two groves at “La Casa del Agua” and “Los Juncales”, and then to ensure that they had complete control and traceability or the olive oil production process. As a result, GALGÓN 99, S. L. was born in 2005.
The operation is Located at the gateway to Andalusia, in the province of Jaen, in the town of Villanueva de la Reina. More specifically it is in the Sierra Norte, in the foothills of the Sierra Morena, between Bailén and Andujar. The groves are at an altitude of 400 metres.
This exceptional location forms a natural border between the Castilian Plateau and the Valley of the Guadalquivir and includes high, ecologically important, sections of Mediterranean forest with a wide variety of fauna and flora.
The climate in this area is largely determined by the particular structure of the Valley of the Guadalquivir and is ideally suited to producing oils with wonderful, complex aromatic qualities.
The company’s goal is not only to produce and sell exceptional oils, but also to educate consumers in the use of the different types of extra virgin olive depending on their variety, the harvest time or their flavours. In doing this, they aim to broaden the understanding of how the many different extra virgin oils can be used in the best way with different dishes and foods.
Both Los Juncales and La Casa del Agua are farms where the plantations follow a traditional framework. This is a 10 metres x 10 metres frame, in which each olive tree is effectively set up as 3 plants together.
One of the most important aspects when producing the best olive oils is the time taken for the olives to travel from the grove to the mill – it is vital that this time is as short as possible. The Oro Bailén operation is perfectly set up for this with the mill being located on one of the farms. The furthest any of the harvest has to travel is just 5 km.
The olive fruit is harvested very early, once it has reached optimum ripeness, between the end of October and the beginning of November. At this point the olives give a fruit juice rich in both olfactory sensations and in taste. The result is the Oro Bailén range of oil which exhibit aromas such as tomato, apple, banana, green almond, fig, green wheat, recently mown grass and more. In short, a world of delight for the senses!
Testament to this is the number of prestigious awards received for the Oro Bailén extra virgin olive oils including the Evooleum World’s top 100 EVOOs.