Luck and design combine for award-winning quality at Lauriston Grove

The grove’s coastal location immerses the property with rolling sea mists and sea breezes.

Luck and design combine for awardwinning quality at Lauriston Grove

Architectural design isn’t normally called for in the establishment of an olive grove. For Lauriston Grove owners Marco and Vicki Linardi, however, it has played a key part in creating their ‘lifestyle paradise’ - their horticultural property, supported by their core business Linardi Design.

Varietal ‘design’ is undoubtedly also one element behind the exceptional quality of Lauriston Grove’s award-winning EVOOs, which netted three Gold medals and a Silver at last year’s Australian International Olive Awards (AIOA) - one for each of their four varieties.

The Lauriston Grove Frantoio and Hardy’s Mammoth EVOOs earned Gold and equal judges’ scores of 90/100, just pipping their Manzanillo at Gold and 89, while their Correggiola gained a high Silver with 84 judges’ points.

Lauriston’s impressive 2021 results added to their reputation for quality consistence, and success at Australia’s most prestigious competition, following another four medalfour varietal run in 2020 (two Gold, Silver and Bronze) and an even higher accolade in 2019. That year they achieved not just two Silvers and a Gold medal, but the Gold medal-winning Lauriston Grove Hardy’s Mammoth varietal was also named both 2019 Champion EVOO of State - Tasmania and Reserve Champion Medium EVOO.

And that’s just their AIOA wins. Lauriston Grove’s EVOOs have also won numerous medals and trophies over recent years at the RAST Royal Hobart Fine Food Award, including the Richard Langdon Trophy for Best in Show.

Background

Marco said the Lauriston Grove journey started on Grand Final day in 1994, which is where the ‘luck’ element of their story comes in.

“The property ‘Lauriston’ at 139 Roaring Beach Rd, South Arm, Tasmania was purchased on 24 September 1994, the day of the West Coast Eagles vs Geelong grand final,” he said.

“Being an expat Sandgroper, it turned out to be one on the luckiest days of my life … your football team wins the grand final AND you purchase a once-in-a-lifetime property!

“We subsequently purchased the adjacent 119 Roaring Beach Rd and ended up with a unique 52-acre property just 30 minutes from capital city Hobart. It has half a kilometre of wild ocean surf beach frontage, known as Hope Beach, freshwater wetlands, amazing bird and wildlife, pine forest and sandstone cliffs, as well as well-drained sandy loamy soil with cleared undulating pasture and northerly orientation.

“The nearest land mass to the south from Hope Beach is Antarctica, some 2400km away, and it is here that some of the freshest air on earth consistently immerses the property with rolling sea mist and sea breezes.”

Olives in the blood

When purchased the cleared land was dry and “somewhat degraded” but Marco’s Italian heritage - along with memories of a much-loved olive tree planted by his father in their suburban Perth backyard - influenced

Their AIOA medals are an important part of Lauriston’s marketing.

Stick with it … and don’t quit your day job

Their fortnightly farmgate market stall is a popular outlet for both their olive products and farm-grown organic vegetables.

With 30 years of hands-on experience now behind them, Marco and Vicki have learned a lot along the way. They shared some great practical advice for other producers starting out in the industry. “Get in early, do your research and give it your best shot as it’s a long but satisfying road. “Also make sure you have a day job.”

More information: www.lauristongrove. com.au.

the decision to establish an olive grove on the property.

“Dry is the word here, as South Arm’s annual rainfall average is 434mm - around two-thirds of Hobart’s 626mm and with a micro-climate where the temperature is often two degrees warmer,” he said.

“But there’s virtually no frost, due to being surrounded by water, so I chose to establish a boutique olive grove of 1200 trees. The trees were three years old when planted in 1997, therefore are now 28 years old.

Varietal selection

“There are four varieties. Frantoio and Correggiola are Italian varieties renowned for their high-quality oils; Manzanillo is a Spanish dual-purpose variety, great for both table olives and oil; and last but not the least is Hardy’s Mammoth. This is a table olive with beautiful flavour and texture but, as our AIOA results show, also makes excellent oil.

Lauriston Grove produces four single varietal EVOOs and table olives made to Marco’s own secret recipe.

“The varieties were chosen by researching cultivars planted in New Zealand, as there were very few groves being planted in Tassie at that time. In fact, I was told we were mad, that olives wouldn’t grow in Tassie as it’s too cold - and here we are nearly 30 years later producing some of the finest EVOO in Australia.”

Handled with care

Watching his father care for their family olive tree also formed the basis of his own grove practices, Marco said, combining with later learning to form the natural management regime which he credits for the quality of their olive products.

“As a child I was influenced by my father’s gardening skills and was amazed at how extensive the pruning of our olive tree was and by the subsequent regrowth. However, intuition and some research along the way has also contributed to our outstanding outcomes,” he said.

“Organic agricultural principals and methodology is how we care for our olives.

“Our olives are also handpicked using traditional methods. The annual harvest, which occurs during May to July, is a continuous festive occasion with many families, friends and volunteers joining in to help … and then to celebrate with much chatter, laughter, music, food and wine well into the night.

“We outsource our EVOO pressing, as it’s not really viable for a boutique grove of 1200 trees, and we press each of the varieties separately, allowing each EVOO to reflect the varietal flavour characteristics.

“We make our own table olives, which are prepared by my own special recipe. This uses an age-old traditional method of curing the olives and a blending of ingredients, including our EVOO. We also desalinate our olives, as we find the very salty taste of most olives you buy unpleasant and feel that it hides the true taste of the olive.

“We use a simple method of desalination after the olives are removed from brine and before the marinade is added, which enhances the olive flavour and highlights the marinade flavours. Our customers often comment about this aspect, which they love.

“Combined with our passion and love for our grove, and the very unique location of the grove with its constant sea mist, they create our quality point of difference.”

Quality backed by science

There’s also science to back their belief that the grove’s location is a major influence on its fruit quality.

“In the early 1980s the CSIRO conducted an olive research project and asked all groves around Australia to submit 100 olives,” he said.

“Testing was outstanding and proved that Southern olive groves such as those in Tasmania and Victoria produced the highest quality EVOO in Australia. The conclusion was that the cooler climates were responsible for the best results.

“And that’s certainly the case here: Lauriston Grove consistently produces EVOO with an FFA level of <0.2%, while the minimum required is 0.8%.”

Labour of love … with an appreciative following

Marco said the grove was originally one part of a bigger lifestyle choice but has taken its own direction over the years.

“My venture was always treated as a labour of love and without the intention of establishing the grove as a business,” he said.

“However, Lauriston Grove has grown into a well-known brand with a small following of regular customers who appreciate very fine olive products.

“So we now sell all four single varietal EVOOs, in both 250ml and 500ml bottles, and our Extra Virgin Marinated Olives in 250gm vacuum sealed bags.

“Sales of our produce is via small gourmet food outlets such as Hill Street and Salamanca Fresh, along with farmgate markets and online sales.”

Value-adding

The olive product sales are boosted by a range of estate-grown vegetables, produced with the same care, attention and natural principles as their olives. Even further valueadding comes by way of event hosting, providing both income and a chance to share the natural beauty of their unique property.

“We have a small market garden where we produce the famous and very popular South Arm pink-eye potatoes, red Argentinean garlic, huge silverbeet, broad beans and artichokes,” Marco said.

“All are very popular with our Brisbane Street farmgate market customers, where we have a fortnightly stall on Sundays.

“And as Lauriston Grove is such an amazing property, we have also made it available for hire as a BYO wedding or events venue.

“The property is located only 20 minutes from Hobart airport and 30 minutes from the CBD, and is a magical romantic landscape - ocean frontage, pine forests and wetlands, all nestled alongside the beautiful olive grove - which helps create a truly memorable special day.

“As a small boutique grove, the addition of the market garden sales and wedding events helps the overall viability of the business. When at the Farmgate Market our beautiful garden produce adds colour and interest to our stall: in particular, our pinkeye potatoes, when in season are a big drawcard which often results in additional sales of our core olive products.”

Lifestyle balance

Marco said all of those elements are ‘sidelines’ to their core business of architectural design, and combine to create a varied and rewarding lifestyle.

“Linardi Design has been a successful multiaward winning design company in Tasmania for 35 years, and continues to service clients in Tasmania and abroad,” he said.

“Running this business from our home allows for a wonderful but hectic lifestyle balance between architecture and our love for the amazing olive tree.

“Along with wandering the long isolated sandy beaches on our doorstep, fishing and the love of our local wildlife, especially our befriended sea eagle Franke, it keeps us grounded and very happy in this paradise called Lauriston Grove.”

Marco and Vicki enjoy every element of their ‘labour of love’ olive business, from the hard work of harvesting to the somewhat more glamourous task of marketing.

Awards, achievement and appreciation

Their consistent success at the AIOA is also playing a role in that happiness, Marco said, and also in the growth and popularity of their brand.

The pros and cons of life as an EVOO producer

Every job has elements we enjoy and others that we just do to, whether we want to or not. We asked Marco and Vicki what they love best about their life in olives, and what they really don’t love doing. “To see a vision develop into reality some 30 years down the track, with just rewards, is very satisfying. “The thought that our produce is not only loved by our customers but is of the highest nutritional value we can give them is a real buzz! “Cleaning barrels is not …”

“Winning awards, especially Gold, gives a sense of achievement for all the hard efforts, and definitely helps with marketing and branding of our produce,” he said.

“Quality competitions like the AIOA are very important, if not crucial, to growers and the industry, and for consumers they give guidance and appreciation of what the expert judges think about your product.”

More information: www.lauristongrove. com.au.

Harvest at Lauriston is a festive occasion, with family and friends gathering to pick during the day and then celebrate with music, food and wine into the night.

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