The castle of Tabernas was built around the 11th century. It sheltered in its main rooms the Catholic Monarchs who stayed there for three days during their last conquests in the Iberian Peninsula. In this castle, the Monarchs signed the historic document which formalized the handing over of the town of Almeria by El Zagal: “Las Capitulaciones de Almería”. For certain, during the royal stay, the Catholic Monarchs could enjoy the gastronomic delights of Tabernas and its oil, coveted by its extraordinary green fruit gilded under the sun.		The olive trees are planted in the marked holes and then staked with wood posts or iron rods in order to guide the olive trunk in its growth and protect it from the wind to prevent it from breaking or bending. Pruning is one of the most important works in the plantation. Having been done properly, olive trees could develop in a balanced way while growing until the production of olives. In the end, the Olivar del Desierto is an olive plantation located in a region with exceptional nature surrounded by protected natural areas.
Acidity refers to the ratio of free fatty acids in the olive oil, expressed in degrees. These degrees are not related to the flavour intensity. They are a guideline for oil classification and do not have anything to do with flavour. An high level of acidity in an Extra Virgin olive oil may be due to the fruit fermentation, an excessive ripeness, a plague or a disease, etc. because of the fundamental importance of the processing stage. Therefore, the lower the acidity, the higher the quality. Castillo de Tabernas undergoes very strict Quality Controls in order to be one of the few Olive Oils in the world with 0.1° Natural acidity.		In order to understand the beneficial role of olive oil for our heath and, especially, of “Castillo de Tabernas” due to its top quality, you have to consider its composition: oleic acid (ratio between 55 and 83%), vitamin E and polyphenols. Circulation helps to prevent arteriosclerosis and its risks, arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, cardiac insufficiency, renal insufficiency and cerebral hemorrhages. As to the digestive system, it protects the mucus and, by avoiding hypochlorhydria, it reduces gastric or duodenal ulcers.
We are steady committed to the quality of our Extra Virgin olive oil, sparing no effort: we neither knock down the olives nor pick them up from the ground, they are milled on the same day of the picking, the oil is cold centrifuged (with no chemical or heat treatments), the oil is carried to our hygienically prepared deposits and after a careful bottling and labeling it is ready to be tasted.		The product quality can be defined as the union of its own characteristics due to which it is considered as better, identical or worse than the other oils of the same kind. The quality criteria generally applied to virgin olive oil are defined according to: Chemical criteria: acidity degree, oxidation level, unusual ingredients. Sensorial analysis of its organoleptic characteristics (smell and flavour), defined by the experts through tasting. Flavour, smell and colour of the olive oil depend basically on the ingredients of the fruit flesh extracted with the oil.

© Castillo de Tabernas, 2005