Enjoy an intimate experience dedicated to Portuguese olive oil in Alvados, in the heart of the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park. In a friendly and welcoming atmosphere at the host's home, you'll discover how this essential product of the Mediterranean diet can be enjoyed with knowledge, precision and pleasure—with views of the mountains and the special setting of a thousand-year-old olive tree.
The experience begins with a brief introduction to the cultural importance of the olive tree in Portugal and the role of olive oil in gastronomy. Next, you'll embark on a guided sensory journey: you'll learn about the production process, from harvesting the olives to pressing them in the mill, and the care that makes all the difference to the final quality—such as early harvesting, freshness and storage.
One of the highlights of the workshop is learning how to read labels correctly (origin, category, harvest, varieties), so you can make more informed choices in your day-to-day life. The differences between categories such as extra virgin, virgin and refined will also be explained, both from a technical and a sensory point of view.
Then you'll take part in a guided technical tasting of 5 award-winning Portuguese extra virgin olive oils from renowned small producers. Using tasting glasses, you'll learn how to warm the olive oil, analyze aromas and identify positive attributes such as fruity, bitter and peppery. For comparison, you will also taste 1 virgin or refined olive oil, clearly perceiving the differences in freshness, quality and profile.
At the end, the tasting becomes more relaxed and gastronomic, accompanied by artisan bread. If you wish, you can purchase the olive oils you tasted (subject to availability).