About PETRA Olive Oil

Margaret River Region - Family Owned

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil Estate is a boutique Margaret River region olive grove, located in the premier Margaret River gourmet food region in Western Australia.

Established in 1999, Petra Estate is committed to offering Extra Virgin Olive Oils (Plain & Flavoured/Infused), Gourmet Vinegars/Dips/Spreads etc, and EVOO Skincare/Haircare of the finest quality, as well as other and stunning Luxury Farmstay Accommodation [Dog Friendly - conditions apply].

All Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil products are made with first-cold-pressed-olives. Petra ensures that harvesting, pressing and bottling are conducted to produce the HIGHEST QUALITY Extra Virgin Olive Oil used in all Petra Products.

Petra is family owned and operated. "Petra" means "rock" in Greek. The granite rock that came from the excavation when digging Petra’s dams has been used in the walls of many of Petra's buildings.

Petra Estate respectfully acknowledges the Wadandi People (Saltwater People) past and present, as the traditional owners & custodians of the land where we live and our products are sourced.

Points of Difference / FAQ

Farm to Table Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Note: due to current (challenging) climate conditions, there is a supply shortage of Petra EVOO, so there are limits on purchases currently, to ensure everyone can enjoy Petra Olive Oils.

Current Season vs Any Season

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil only sells fresh seasonal EVOO.
Petra Olives are generally harvested and pressed from April to June.
Supermarket/commercial brands often sell stock that is years old.

Small Batch Bottling vs Large Batch Bottling

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is bottled in small batches to ensure freshness, flavour and high polyphenols.
Petra Estate starts bottling new season EVOO after EVOO has had time to 'settle' in our stainless steel vacuum sealed tanks. New season EVOO is normally available around August each year, however even our previous season's EVOO is stored in vacuum sealed tanks and bottled in small quantities to preserve freshness, quality, taste and polyphenols.
Supermarket/commercial olive oils bottle in very large quantities.

Single Origin vs Multi Origin

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oils are produced with first-harvest cold-pressed olives. Many commercial and supermarket brands use bulk, commercially sourced olives.
Note: due to increasing demand & climate change, Petra occasionally sources from other high quality Western Australian olive groves to blend with Petra Estate produced EVOO.

Optimal Ripeness vs Single Day Harvest

Petra Estate harvests and presses olives over a 2-3 month period (April to June). Petra Olives are harvested/selected for optimal ripeness (depending on variety/season).
Supermarket/commercial brands use olives harvested in just one day to reduce cost, but also reduce flavour & quality.

Hand Harvested vs Machine Harvested

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is created with Petra Olives, harvested using hand-held rakes at the point of optimal ripeness for each olive variety.
Supermarket/commercial brands use heavy machinery to harvest their olives to reduce cost.

First Cold Pressed Single Extraction vs Commercial Multiple Extraction

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is unadulterated first cold-pressed, single extraction EVOO.
Supermarket/commercial olive oils often use heat and/or chemical extraction and multiple extraction processes.
Real 'Extra Virgin First Cold Pressed EVOO' offers the highest quality in terms of freshness, flavour and polyphenol health benefits.

Petra Pressing vs Stored Olive Pressing

Petra olives are pressed within 24 hours of harvesting. Petra EVOO is then stored in stainless steel vacuum tanks and bottled in small batches to ensure quality, freshness, taste and preservation of polyphenols.
Supermarket/commercial brands are often derived from 'old' olives that have been 'stored' for longer periods of time, losing freshness and quality.

Blending Expertise

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oils are expertly created from extra virgin olive oil produced with first-harvest cold-pressed olives. Each annual season will result in different flavours/characteristics.

Cloudy vs Clear EVOO

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is unadulterated first cold-pressed, single extraction EVOO. We never use heat, chemicals or filtering during the pressing process. This ensures the highest quality EVOO flavour and polyphenols (antioxidant) health benefits.
Petra EVOO may continue to 'settle' and 'clarify' after bottling which may result in some olive sediment falling to the bottom. Olive sediment is completely harmless, however if you consider it 'unsightly', you may not wish to use the very last drops, and it is best not to shake bottle/tin.
Supermarket/commercial brands are often 'treated' differently for commercial reasons, resulting in considerably reduced quality, flavour and polyphenols.

High Polyphenols vs Low Polphenols

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil has consistently recorded some of the highest polyphenols of any Australian-produced EVOO. Why do polphenols matter? More about healthy Polyphenols and please view our VIDEO!

Local Infusions vs Commercial Infusions

Petra Infused/Flavoured Olive Oils are created with the freshest, locally sourced lemon, lime, herbs, garlic, chilli to ensure quality and freshness.
Supermarket/commercial brands often use 'flavourings' from a range of sources, including 'artificial flavouring'.

Cooking, Baking or Drizzling

You can cook/shallow fry with Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO). Deep frying with quality EVOO is not recommended, as at high temperatures you 'cook out' all the beneficial polyphenols and flavour. We recommend using cheaper oils for deep frying. Petra EVOOs are the perfect drizzling EVOO, on anything!

Click here for more information about Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Does EVOO require refrigeration?

EVOO does not 'require' refrigeration. To preserve quality and freshness, we recommend storing in a cool/dark place. If you don't tend to use EVOO often, we suggest refrigeration to help preserve the oil. Note: EVOO tends to 'solidify' somewhat when refrigerated, but if you bring EVOO to room temperature (before use) it will de-solidify.

Petra Awards

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards are based on several factors including flavour, polyphenols and acidity level.

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil has consistently achieved very high scores across all categories, particularly in the ALL IMPORTANT polyphenol count, which is important for health!

Top 2 Result - Polyphenol Level

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil achieved a polyphenol count of 443ppm at the 2022 Perth Royal Show, the SECOND HIGHEST of all olive oils entered from across Australia.

More about healthy Polyphenols

Top 2 Result - Polyphenol Level

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil achieved a polyphenol count of 499ppm at the 2020 Perth Royal Show, the SECOND HIGHEST of all olive oils entered from across Australia.

More about healthy Polyphenols

Perth Royal Food Awards RASWA Olive Oil

2022 Perth Royal Show

  • Gold Medal Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Bronze Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2020 Perth Royal Show

  • Silver Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2018 Perth Royal Show

  • Silver Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Silver Medal Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Bronze Medal Lime Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2017 Perth Royal Show

  • Bronze Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2014 Perth Royal Show

  • Bronze Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2012 Perth Royal Show

  • Silver Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Bronze Medal Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2011 Perth Royal Show

  • Bronze Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2010 Perth Royal Show

  • Silver Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Two Bronze Medals
  • Best In Class Lime Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2009 Perth Royal Show

  • Gold Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Bronze Medal Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2008 Perth Royal Show

  • Silver Medal Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Petra Olives

Petra Estate is located in Yallingup, on 31 acres of gently sloping land, in WA's renowned food and wine Margaret River region. Petra Estate opened to the public in February 2007.

Petra's 1200 olive trees were first planted in 1999, along with the creation of lovely grounds, including Petra Accommodation and three dams.

Petra Premium Cold-Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oils are masterful blends of Italian, Spanish, French & Greek olive varieties grown in the temperate Margaret River region climate.

Frantoio - Tuscany, Italy. Small/medium fruit with a high yield. Ripens mid/late season with a high oil content.

Koroneiki - Greece. Small fruit that bears young with high yields and high oil content. High quality oil, ripens mid/late season.

Kalamata - Greece. Medium/large fruit and a medium to high oil content. Good quality oil, pickled black and a highly regarded table olive.

Leccino - Tuscany, Italy. Small/medium fruit that bears young. Medium/high oil content that ripens early/mid season.

Picholine - France. A dual purpose olive (table and oil), with a medium/high yield, medium oil content and high quality oil. Ripens mid/late season, and used as a cross-pollinator.

Nevadillo Blanco - Spain. Medium fruit with a high oil content. Ripens early/mid season.

Pendulino - Italy. Small fruit with a medium yield and a medium oil content and high quality oil. Ripens early/mid season.

WA Mission - France/Spain/USA. Medium fruit with a medium/high yield, medium oil content and high quality oil. Ripens mid/late season. A cultivar of olive first brought to WA in New Norcia in 1847 by Spanish Benedictine Monks.

Note: due to increasing demand for Petra's high quality extra virgin olive oils, Petra occasionally sources from other high quality Western Australian olive groves.

Pressing Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Different varieties of olives ripen at different times in the season and individual olive trees may even bear fruit of varying ripeness.

Petra Estate offers the highest quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil by ensuring that
- olives are carefully selected when they are ready for pressing
- olive varieties are cold-pressed separately to ensure they reach the perfect level of ripeness for the desired style
- the oil produced is expertly blended to create the Extra Virgin Olive Oils that are unique to Petra Olive Oil Estate.

At Petra Olive Oil modern technology and traditional methods are used. We operate our boutique Olive Press with small batches to ensure the exacting standards of 'Extra Virgin' are met. This involves the crushing of the fruit by hammermill, a mixing process ('malaxation') to separate the oil molecules from the water, then extraction by centrifuge to separate the oil from the waste remnants of the fruit.

The final phase of cleaning the oil and further separation from water is achieved in some systems through a vertical centrifuge followed by filtering. At Petra our state-of-the-art Olive Press utilises the natural and gentle process of gravity separation in a glass decanter known as the 'Florentine Vase'.

By limiting the exposure to agitation, this process fully preserves the fresh flavours and taste of the oil as well as the unique health benefits (high polyphenols / antioxidants) that can only be gained from a premium extra virgin olive oil.

The finished product is stored in vaccum-sealed stainless steel tanks to settle for about six weeks.

 

Healthy Polyphenols

What are Polyphenols?

The flavenoid polyphenols (antioxidants) in olive oil are natural antioxidants that contribute to a bitter taste, astringency, and resistance to oxidation. Beneficial effects range from healing sunburn to lowering cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of coronary disease.

Olive oil is the only vegetable oil that contains perceptible amounts of polyphenols.

What is the Polyphenol Content of Olive Oil?

  • Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oils: 350-500+ppm
  • Most Extra Virgin Olive Oils: 50-250ppm
  • Ordinary Olive Oil: up to 50ppm (lower grades including imported oils sold in Australia)

Factors that drive these levels include the olive cultivar, degree of ripeness, production and extraction technologies employed, and the age of the oil.

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oils are unfiltered and completely unadulterated and bottled in small batches to preserve the highest possible polyphenol (antioxidant) levels. This often results in a cloudy appearance and robust flavour. Petra only sells current season EVOO to ensure quality and freshness.

 

Olive Oil Terminology

Extra Virgin - Extra Virgin Olive Oil means that olive oil has been extracted using the first cold press of olives. All Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is first cold-pressed.

Low Acidity - The best olive oil has a natural level of low acidity. Extra virgin olive oil is produced using  cold-pressed, chemical-free processes that involves only cold pressure or cold centrifugation, keeping acidity low. According to the International Olive Oil Council extra virgin olive oil must have an acidity of less than 0.8%. Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil is 0.2% acidity.

First Pressed - refers to the olives being pressed on the first round of extraction. Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil uses olives that are only pressed once.

Cold Pressed - the cold pressed method indicates that no heat or chemical additives are used to extract the oil from the olives, which can alter and destroy the flavours, aromas and nutritional value of the olive oil

Cold - refers to olives being stored at a temperature no higher than 27.7°C. Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil uses olives that have been stored at 27.7°C or lower, and are pressed within 24 hours hours of being hand-harvested.

PPM = Parts Per Million
PPM is a term used in chemistry to denote a very low concentration of a solution. One gram in 1000ml is 1000ppm and one thousandth of a gram (0.001g) in 1000ml is one ppm. One thousandth of a gram is one milligram and 1000ml is one litre, so 1ppm = 1mg per litre.

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil Olive Grove at Dusk

Olive Oil Quality Standards

Petra Extra Virgin Olive Oil With Antipasto

Australia has a standard for Olive Oils & Olive Pomace Oils (A 5264-2011).

In December 2013 it was reported by the Australia Olive Association that:
“Australian consumers buying imported olive oil are being duped at the checkout with up to 9 out of 10 imported olive oils failing Australian standards and being labelled incorrectly ... (of) 106 imported oils tested representing 40 different brands, 77% of oils tested failed the Australian Standard AS 5264-2011.

93% of brands tested failed the Standard for at least one product of their brand range. "

This is consistent with results found by Choice Magazine in 2010 that showed 80% of imported oils tested failed Extra Virgin standards.”

 

 

"Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food."

Hippocrates