Carmel, Israel’s largest winery, has launched a new, high quality range of Israeli extra virgin olive oils. The brand will be known by the name ‘Masiq,’ which is the Hebrew for ‘olive harvest.’
There will be a number of different extra virgin olive oils, which will be available in supermarkets, retail stores & in export markets:
Masiq Extra Virgin ( liter & 500 ml)
This olive oil is a blend of Barnea & Picual. The result is a fresh, slightly pungent, delicate olive oil – light, fruity with an aroma of fresh mown hay. Barnea is a varietal created in Israel by Professor Shimon Lavie, but it has become an international variety being heavily planted in places as far apart as Argentina & Australia . Picual is a Spanish variety, newly planted in Israel.
Masiq Upper Galilee (liter)
The Masiq Upper Galilee is produced only from olive groves situated in the mountains of the Galilee. The Galilee is Israel’s most famous & historic olive growing region. This olive oil is a blend of Souri, Barnea & Manzanillo varieties. It is aromatic, fruity, and well balanced between slight bitterness, and an underlying sweetness. It has a rich, lingering aftertaste.This is the first of a series of ‘regional’ olive oils. These will be blended according to the regions where the olive groves are situated.
Masiq Souri (500 ml)
The Souri variety is the main indigenous variety of the region producing spicy, aromatic olive oils. It is one of the oldest varieties in the world and is said to have originated from the Lebanese town of Sur (Tyre). The Masiq Souri is aromatic, spicy, green & peppery. It is produced 100% from the Souri olive. It is the first of an intended range of varietal olive oils to be produced by Masiq.
Masiq Organic (500 ml)
Top of the range is the Masiq Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil. It is made 100% from Souri olives, organically grown in a single olive grove situated at Rosh Pina in the Upper Galilee. This particular olive grove is not irrigated. The resulting olive oil is fruity, aromatic & piquant, with a perfect balance between bitterness & a honey like sweetness. The olive oil is certified as organic by AGRIOR & IFOAM –The International Federation of Organic Agriculture. Produced in small quantities, it will be reserved for the finest specialist wine shops & delicatessens in Israel & export markets.
The olives for Masiq are gathered from ancient olive groves in the Galilee, the Shomron & recently planted groves in the central Negev, where saline water from deep wells is used for irrigation. The fruit is carefully selected by Carmel agronomist, Arnon Nathan, a graduate of the Faculty of Agriculture at Rehovot, and brought to three olive presses – in the Western Galilee, Jezsreel Valley & Central Negev – which are chosen because they match up to Carmel’s strict standards of cleanliness, quality & kashrut. Production is strictly under Carmel’s control. The olives are cold pressed without the application of heat. The finished olive oil is then brought to Carmel’s impressive, new olive oil blending plant at Zichron Ya’acov Winery. This new facility provides the blender a wide range of options. Different varieties & olive oils from different regions growing regions are be kept apart until the final blending. The finished olive oils are then sent to Carmel’s Rishon Le Zion Winery for bottling.
The master blender & olive oil taster is Mrs. Mazal Zadik-Berko, who studied Food Technology at the Technion at Haifa, concentrating first on oils and then specialised in olive oil. Her main objective is to produce olive oils that preserve the character of the single variety or the terroir of a particular region.
Whilst many Israeli olive oils are blends of both Israeli & imported olive oils, because demand outstrips supply, Masiq is produced only from Israeli grown olives and consists only of extra virgin olive oils. All the Masiq olive oils will carry the Quality Approved sticker of the Israel Olives Board. The olive oils are Kosher & Kosher for Passover.
The attractive and distinctive labels for Masiq Olive Oils have been designed by Baruch Naeh, one of Israel’s most well known designers.
Carmel’s second label, Chef Series, will continue to be available in the mass market. The olive oils will either be extra virgin or virgin and the blend will depend on the size of the olive harvest in Israel.
Carmel Winery first produced olive oil in 1989. Today they are the second biggest player in the domestic market with approximately 20 % of the market and Carmel olive oils are also exported, mainly to America.
In 2004 Carmel launched ‘Handcrafted Olive Oils of Israel’, a consortium of some of Israel’s finest olive oil producers, in order to advance Israeli olive oil in export markets. The award winning partners include: Gazit, Halutza, Kad Bnei Darom, Kibbutz Tzora, Makura & Uri Sagie. Both Carmel’s Masiq Extra Virgin Olive Oils & Handcrafted Olive Oils of Israel will be launched internationally at Vinitaly in Verona, Italy in April 2005 – the world’s most important exhibition for wine & olive oil.
March 2005
