Getting the Good Oil on Dr. Bentivoglio

In 1997, my wife Jayne and I purchased 350 acres of grazing land halfway between Mudgee and Rylstone and proceeded to plant 6,000 olive trees in October 1998. These trees now stand between 15 and 20 feet tall. In 2001 we imported a large olive press from Italy. It can handle 1.2 tonnes of olives an hour and we press approximately 300 tonnes of our olives every year. The oil is stored, filtered, bottled and marketed onsite at the farm. We have distributors in America, Singapore and of course in Sydney. Harvesting is done by a large mechanical shaker, both on our property and on those of our neighbours.

The trees were initially irrigated from a large purpose built dam, although for the last three years severe drought has curtailed this. The trees themselves have not been affected, but production has dropped off considerably. The trees are 10 years old and will hit full production in another three years, drought permitting. We now have 8,000 trees which take substantial maintenance provided by four or five full time staff. Many of the leading restaurants in Sydney use our olive oil, including Bepe's, Machiavelli's, Glass and others. All this has been a wonderful learning experience over the last decade. The interest our family has in this venture will continue long after I retire from medicine.

Jayne has done a wonderful job in setting up the business and running it. As a result of her efforts we have won awards in Australia and overseas, including this year a prestigious "Superior Taste" award in Europe. Our press is adorned with gold medals attesting to the quality of our oil of which we are exceedingly proud.

Dr. Peter Bentivoglio
Neurosurgeon, Sydney