To the west of Zamora and Salamanca, where the Duero becomes the border with Portugal, the river is contained within the hillsides forming the deepest and most extensive canyons in the entire Iberian Peninsula for almost 200 kilometres. This is the location of the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, an exceptional space where the wild beauty of a granite landscape mixes with rich and varied fauna and flora. In 2015 it was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The valley formed by the river is a natural shelter that enjoys warmer temperatures than the Castilian Plateau, which is why it has a microclimate that allows for the cultivation of olive groves on the border with Portugal.
Zorzal and Manzanilla varieties
The “Zorzal” variety is indigenous and unique to Arribes del Duero, which is an incentive for the development of the production line of a differentiated oil of exceptional quality. Only very early-harvested green olives are used and harvesting is carried out by hand in the traditional way.
Maximum flavour and intensity
Mechanical procedures produce the oil at a very low temperature to achieve maximum flavour and intensity. The Zorzal variety gives our oil its unique characteristics and higher levels of polyphenols and antioxidants than any other varieties on the market.
Project to save a Centenary Olive Tree
The progressive abandonment of the rural environment and depopulation in these areas is putting very negative pressure on traditional crops on the terraces with the in turn the consequence abandonment of many centenary olive trees. This has moved us to create this program with the aim of trying to recover the trees by transplanting them to farms on our property where they will be properly cared for, saving them from possible disappearance. We therefore value the sustainability of the agroforestry and the protection of this unique ecosystem.
Olive trees
The Arribes del Duero Natural Park is an area of spectacular hillside terraces where vines and olive trees have been growing for many generations.
Here we find examples of olive trees that are close to 600 years old cultivated on the terraces.
Olive Oil
When I visited the estate where Zoleam’s hundred-year-old olive trees are located on the cobbled terraces overlooking the Duero River, I fell in love with the place. The ecological and cultural commitment to the conservation of the endangered variety of the Zorzal olive captivated me and aroused my interest. Olive oil is a green golden coloured liquid, a source of life. My will as an artist is to commit myself only to projects whose contents make a better world. And the Zoleam olive oil is in tune with my way of feeling everything that is vital to nourish us from our essences. I was moved by the cobbled terraces when I painted the Z of Zoleam, a Z that also pronounces Zamora and Zorzal, with a torn, steep graphic design like the terraces, rigorous, with a certain orientalist and povera harmony. That is the energy that inspired me when I walked through these beautiful hundred-year-old olive groves under organic cultivation. I was excited about the magic in these terraces overlooking the Duero. Good art has an alchemic, holistic power… Like that of Zoleam organic olive oil, its delicious taste, intensity and its exceptional nutritional virtues”.
JORGE CARDARELLI Multi-faceted artist, his work is in areas such as interior architecture, landscape architecture and painting, he studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in London.
