The Mill

Our production begins by selecting the finest olives grown from the surrounding areas of Almazara de la Gaén, our mill. The mild Mediterranean climate of Aragon combined with an extensively well-planned and developed irrigation system allows the local farmers to produce some of the best agricultural goods in the world. The knowledge of olives paired with the farmers’ saged history from years of cultivating the land provides us with a unique tree crop that supports the local economy while also limiting any variables that could cause oxidation and fermentation.

Once the olives arrive at the Almazara, the first step is cleaning them and removing the stems, leaves, twigs, and other debris left with the olives. Light contaminants are removed by a heavy air flow.

After the cleaning process is completed, the oil extraction process starts with the crushing of the olives. Aceites Impelte uses a stone mill where granite stone wheels roll in circles on a slab to grind the olives into a paste. The purpose of crushing is to tear the flesh cells to facilitate the release of the oil from the vacuoles.

Using a stone mill instead of the modern metal tooth grinders or hammermills has several advantages. It allows to produce a paste with the optimal particle size for subsequent extraction and most importantly, minimizes the formation of emulsions, with which there is less chance of chemical changes in the oil keeping all its aromatic properties, antioxidants and nutrients that often are decreased by the high speeds and high temperatures used in modern extraction methods.

After the grinding of the olives the resultant paste is mixed for about 30 to 45 minutes in a horizontal mixer with spiral mixing stainless steel blades. This allows small oil droplets released in the grinding process combine into bigger ones thus facilitating their subsequent separation of other components of the olive.

The next step consists in separating the oil from the rest of the olive components. This used to be done with presses (hence the now somewhat obsolete terms first press and cold press), but is now done by centrifugation where by means of density difference, the oil will be separated from the skin, flesh, bone and the vegetation water of the olive and from there to a new decanter where is further processed to eliminate any remaining water and solids. The oil is then left in a tanks where a final gravity separation occurs.

Now the olive oil is ready to be stored in stainless steel tanks and always-full system keeping the oil away from contact with light and air. In these deposits the oil is naturally decanted thus eliminating small traces of olive and humidity that could not be eliminated in the above processes so the Impelte Extra Virgin Olive Oil reaches customers with its irreproachable appearance and flavor.