GEOGRAPHY MARTOS
Martos is a community deep in the heart of Jaén, one of the eight provinces that make up Andalucía, the fabled region that covers most of Southern Spain. Here, climate, geography and the composition of soils, produce a countryside ideally suited to the cultivation of olive trees, a fact that has been known for centuries.
The early Iberians had a city on this site named Tucci, which was apparently a rather common place name among them. When the Romans invaded Spain, the writer Pliny tells us, the city was renamed Augusta Gemella Tuccitana to differentiate it from nearby places also named Tucci.
“countryside ideally suited to the cultivation of olive trees, a fact that has been known for centuries. “
The name of Martos came into being after the Muslim invasion of Spain during the early Middle Ages. In the 10th century AD, the Muslim writer Al-Mugaddasi first mentioned the name Martus, which means walled city in the Mountains.
THE OLIVE TREE
The olive trees that send their fruit to our presses are known as the Picual or Marteña variety. The fruit of these trees comes to maturity from the second week in November until the third week in December. Picual is the most important olive variety and accounts for around 20 percent of olives worldwide.
These olives have a high level of fat in them, up to 27 percent in some cases, a high level of stability and a high Oleic Acid content. The olives are resistant to spoilage, because of their high levels of antioxidants. These are the healthiest olives you can find. We must distinguish between those grown on the plain and those on the hillside.
“The olive trees that send their fruit to our presses are known as the Picual or Marteña variety”
Olives that come from the plain are larger, have a slight bitterness and a slightly woody taste. Those grown on the hillsides are much softer in flavor and have a certain freshness. Mixing the two produces oil of great complexity.
