From grove to mill, on the same day.

An olive oil mill in São João da Pesqueira, in a 3,500 m² factory restored among the vineyards, almond and olive trees of the Douro.

Discover the olive oils

Guide: which oil to choose

Olive grove by the river, with nets spread out and a van during the olive harvest

The mill

A cold-press mill, inside the factory.

From reception to the vats, eight steps under one roof. It is the heart of Fábrica Douro and the part we show on every visit.

2 000 000 kg of olives per harvest

< 27 °C during malaxation, to keep the aromas

2–3 months settling in the vats, away from light

Visit the mill

The mill, step by step

For more than thirty years, this building on the Estrada Nacional 222 stood closed. Today it is a mill, among vineyards, almond and olive trees, where Douro olives arrive in the morning and become olive oil by the end of the day.

From vineyard to oil

First the machines and the grape harvests, then the school of wine, now the mill.

Álvaro Veiga at a viewpoint over the Douro river

Before

Álvaro Veiga in the late afternoon, with the Douro slopes behind him

The school

Freshly picked olives in a crate at the mill

Today

Before

Machines, vineyards and harvests

The company was called Vale Fernando and provided farm services: people, machinery, land preparation, vineyard planting and grape harvests. With modern equipment, it went on to do all the support work for the vineyard.

The school

What wine taught us

From the link to wine and the partnership with Duorum, one of the largest wine companies in the Douro, came the know-how of quality production. Still today, in very special batches, there is the Poço da Velha red, from the old vines of Quinta Fonte do Santo.

Today

A 3,500 m² factory

A building abandoned for more than thirty years in Lugar da Barroca was restored to become the mill and the company's headquarters. The equipment was chosen with the most innovative specialists in olive oil extraction.

The mill, step by step

Around 2,000,000 kg of olives per harvest. The olives are delivered and processed on the same day they are picked, so they don't develop defects.

01 / 08Grove

Harvest

Poles and nets spread beneath the olive trees, as it has been done in the Douro for generations.

24hours, at most, to the mill

02 / 08Mill

Reception, washing and weighing

Leaves, twigs, stones and soil are removed. Each batch is weighed and labelled in its own crates.

03 / 08Mill

Disc mill

The olives are crushed into a paste, which goes on to the malaxers.

04 / 08Mill

Malaxers

Slow, continuous movements for 50 to 60 minutes make the first separation of the oil.

<27°Ccold extraction

05 / 08Mill

Decanter

The paste separates into two phases: clarified oil and olive pomace.

06 / 08Mill

Vertical centrifuge

Removes residual water and any remaining liquid impurities from the oil.

07 / 08Mill

Yield and acidity

The oil is weighed to know the yield of the olives, and acidity is checked by titration.

08 / 08Storage

Vats

It settles away from light and oxygen until bottling.

2–3months settling

Extra virgin · cold-extracted · Douro

Ouro da Fábrica.

Run your finger through the oil.

Discover the range

The estate · Living Douro

Quinta das Fiandeiras

Olive trees over 300 years old, on the slopes of the Douro.

Of the estate's twenty or so olive varieties, Cobrançosa and Verdeal prevail. Careful selection and hand-picking for an intensely fruity oil, with freshly cut grass, tomato leaf and olive leaf.

Olive trees Centenarian, over 300 years old Varieties Cobrançosa and Verdeal Harvest By hand

Discover the Quinta

2027 Olive tourism at the QuintaOlive oil, wine and experiences of origin, in Ervedosa do Douro.

The harvest

From October to January

Picking starts at the end of October and ends in early January. In Trás-os-Montes and the Upper Douro the groves are mostly rain-fed, and the traditional method is beating the branches with poles.

During the harvest, the mill also presses olives from small local farmers.

Bring olives to the mill

SepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugToday Harvest: from the end of October to early January.Milled on the very day of picking.

How to choose an olive oil

Three things that change what you taste. We explain it all at the tasting, and here.

Extra virgin is more than a name

It is the highest grade: acidity up to 0.8% and a tasting free of defects. Below come virgin, lampante, olive oil and olive pomace oil, and not all of them are pure olive juice.

Learn more

Green or ripe