Category: Blog

The 2022 olive harvest is in the full swing and after another year, a cycle has ended. This is a perfect moment to look back at the results of our work in 2021. When we summarize what we went through, experienced and achieved during the year, 2021 is the most successful year ever for our family in terms of awards and recognitions we have won.

The first prize we won in March was the “Extra Gold Medal” for our Organic and Istra blends in Bari at the International Competition for the Best Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the World – BIOL. Just a few days later, at the International Sol D’oro Competition in Verona, we won gold medal and a special award in the category of the best organically grown blend for our Organic.

After that, a successful series of awards, praises, and good results began. May brought us good news from New York where Ex Albis won gold in the category of Best Oils in the World for 2022 at the NYIOOC World Competition. Although 2021 was very demanding for us in terms of olive grove maintenance, weather and the number of olives, the effort, and the work paid off after all.

The good strike continued when the EVOOLEUM guide 2023 rated Organic with a high 89/100 points and was awarded the label “Best PDO Croatia”.

This was followed by the traditional Leone D’oro – International Olive Oil Competition on Lago di Garda. This competition is specialized in biodiversity, high quality production, and recognition of small producers of extra virgin olive oil. Their expert panel declared our blend Romano the best international blend of extra virgin olive oil in the world. Among the more important awards we would like to mention are those received by the International Olive Oil Council – IOC, which awarded our special blends Organic and Istra with a gold medal. International Contest Masters of Olive Oil awarded the same blends with “High-quality standard gold selection” at the big competition in Monte Carlo.

In July, our blends Istra and Atilio won awards from AIPO – the International Regional Association of Olive Oil producers. In addition, Atilio dominated the fruit note competition and won gold in the “Delicate fruttiness” category, and Organic in the “Medium Fruttiness” category. World’s Best Olive Oils in addition to Organic, also awarded our oil mill and OPG, and included us in the TOP 10 best producers according to the results of the 7 most important annual competitions. The famous world guide Flos Olei, a specialized guide to the world of extra virgin olive oils, rated us this year with 97 points out of 100, which positively surprised us considering the fact that we have practically subscribed to 95 points for the past 16 years. This guide evaluates olive oils from 5 continents throughout the year and publishes only the best 500 producers, and we are really proud of the fact that we have been present in the guide for 17 years in a row.

The crown of everything we have achieved this year is the olive oil Oscar – Il Premio Magnifico – an association that brings together the best producers of olive oil in the world, and which declared us as the L’Azienda dell anno – in translation, producer of the year. All our oils have been awarded with olive stars, and three blends have even received the maximum of three stars.

Being the best among the world’s best manufacturers is an exceptional honour. All these awards are the result of the dedication, love, passion, and work of the entire OPG Chiavalon team. The potential of our autochthonous varieties such as buža, bianchera, rosignola, carbonazza in combination with top technologies and modern ecological agrotechnical measures a winning combination which, now it is obvious, is recognized in the world. We are especially proud that everyone in the olive growing world already knows about our Istria and Vodnjan and we are becoming an undisputed synonym for extra virgin olive oil of extremely high quality.

We are returning to the harvest 2022 with the desire that it will be as successful as the year before.

Although we started producing olive oil 25 years ago, as an amateur, just for our needs, the Chiavalon brand as you know it today started 15 years ago. Then, together with our friends, designers, Davor Bruketa and Nikola Žinić, we started rebranding our products. And that’s how it all started.

We are happy that these creatives dedicated their time to us and gave us an idea and solution that was very innovative, different and special during that time. We trusted them and bravely embarked on the story we tell today.

This creative duo behind the successful company Bruketa & Žinić & Gray, put a bottle of olive oil in the paper bag. Škartoc was such, that only a small part of it with the name of the oil was glued to the front of the bottle and surrounded by perforations, so that the rest could be easily removed. All other information and declaration were printed on the back. Each bottle was hand-packed, and the whole label – škartoc, was handmade.

With this design, we have won many domestic and foreign awards such as the Red Dot Design Award and thePentawards Monaco, and our bottle has even been included in the exhibitions of some world museums of contemporary art. We were recognized by the world design scene, we got a lot of media attention, and it all grew into something much bigger and didn’t stop there. Namely, today, the importance of the design of a bottle of good olive oil as well as the branding itself is recognized by all serious olive oil producers and is an unavoidable factor in creating new and confirming existing brands on the market.

Today, 15 years later, we made a revivalof that label to pay hommage to this, for us, great anniversary. We filled 1000 numbered bottles in which we filled a brand new blend of extra virgin olive oil with olives from our special locations, which can be purchased exclusively in our oil mill in Vodnjan. In this way, we have added artistic value to this gastronomic story, which we want to share with all of you.

Istria has a lot to offer – from beautiful nature, small and charming towns to great gastronomy. We made a list of top 10 things you can do on your holiday in Istria, besides visiting our farm and the mill.

1. FOR ALL WINE LOVERS…

Istrian vineyards really offer a wide selection of varieties, but we wish to single out one red wine named Teran. This bitter, fruity and robust wine goes well with meat and the experts say it is also good for your health. There is also a well-known saying in our region „Teran is Istrian“ – you have to discover if it’s true. The other wine you should try is Malvasia, a white wine well known for this area. It goes well with pasta and fish. The biggest wine festival in Istria is called Vinistra and all regional producers are presenting their wines in Poreč in the spring.

2. LIM BAY 

We could have put this on the list for nature lovers because it is beautiful. However, we love it because shellfish are grown in the Lim Bay and, in addition to tasting them in a nearby restaurant, you can also eat them taken directly from the water where they are grown. We recommend Tony’s oyster shack where you can taste oysters, doodles and mussels. With champagne in one hand and oysters in the other, all you need is a spectacular view to complete your hedonistic experience…and a drop of our Romano.

3. THE SMALLEST CITY IN THE WORLD – HUM

According to a legend, Hum was formed when the giants were building cities in the Mirna Valley and eventually built Hum from the remaining stones. Today, this town has about twenty inhabitants, and it is known for “Biska” – mistletoe rakija that allegedly originates from this town. 

4. NATIONAL PARK BRIJUNI

Located across the charming town Fažana that is also worth visiting, this archipelago is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Croatia and is interesting for children as well as adults. There are 14 islands, of which the two most famous are Mali and Veliki Brijun, where you can go on safari and see animals, olive groves, beaches, archaeological remains and sports facilities. Book your trip directly on their pages, because this is the only way to get on the island 😉

5. CHURCH OF ST. BLAISE IN VODNJAN

The patron saint of the City of Vodnjan, where we are located, is St. Blaise, who has long been known as the protector of the throat. Many world-famous artists have come to Vodnjan for years to have the priest touch their throat with olive oil. Apart from that, this church is famous because it contains the largest number of the undecomposed bodies of saints that can be seen during the tour. Tip of the locals: The priest of the church is quite complicated, but it has been so for decades, and we cannot change it. However, if you like the sacred art, St. Blaz is a must.

6. TRUFFLE MUSEUM

All truffle lovers can expect a top experience in the newly opened museum and truffle tasting room. The museum is located in Paladini, in an old Istrian house, where the Karlić family started their business 4 generations ago. Here you can learn all about the “hunt” for truffles, their quality, cultivation and use in gastronomy.

Paladini is not far from Buzet, a small town on a hill that will delight you not only with truffles but also with its beautiful streets. Since you are near, Buzet is worth visiting.

7. THE MOST ROMANTIC TOWN IN ISTRIA – ROVINJ

This town that is actually a peninsula is located on the west coast of Istria, just twenty minutes’ drive from our oil mill. We are sure that this is the most romantic city in Istria – colourful houses, numerous tiny streets, street artists, unforgettable sunsets and a wide gastronomic offer that will not disappoint you are just a small part of what this place has to offer. You should definitely visit it the next time you come to Istria, if you haven’t already.

8. AMPHITHEATRE ARENA IN PULA

Pula is a city of rich historical heritage, mostly inherited from the Romans. One of the legacies is the amphitheatre Arena, which is open to tourists. This is one of the best preserved in the world, and it hosts numerous concerts and festivals during the summer that everyone remembers for a long time because of its unique scenery. In addition, if you are in Pula, be sure to visit the Little Roman Theater and Kaštel, the Double Gate, the Forum and the Temple of Augustus and the Arch of Sergius.

9. DVIGRAD

This medieval town is hidden in the woods, located in Limska Draga. These are the largest ruins of an urban settlement in Istria and provide a unique image of a fully preserved typical medieval town, i.e. kaštel. Within the inner wall are three towers, which were built in their present form during the 14th century.

10. SEVEN WATERFALLS AND LAKES

Unspoiled nature around the small historic town of Buzet in the middle of Istria has amazing educational walking and hiking trail that is connected by a river with seven waterfalls and lakes. This beautiful circular trail of 13 km can be divided into shorter sections suitable for different levels of fitness, from families to athletes. As you follow the river Mirna, you’ll cross wooden bridges, see turquoise lakes, walk through a fairy tale village, and find hidden swings and zip lines which you can try. Every few kilometres, there’s a different waterfall that is worth taking a picture of.

January and February were spent in filling up the bottles with new olive oil, packing and shipping your orders, recapitulating last year and making plans for 2022. As far as our plantations are concerned, this is a period when the olives rest due to lower temperatures and recovery from the harvest. We used it to inspect the olive groves in order to plan protection, supplementation and landscaping.

With February the time came when we give to the earth and help the olives to be prepared for the new productive year.

The nice weather allowed us to start cultivating olive groves, inspecting the trees and feeding the land. During January and February, we fertilized the olive trees with a composted olive pomace. In this way, we return all the rest after processing to the olives. In addition, light tillage has been done to get rid of weeds and make it easier for olives to reach food. To get, we have to give – and that’s what we’re going to do by the end of February. We are taking care of our olive trees, cultivating them and feeding them so that they can return it to us throughout the year During the winter months, we also cleaned the dry stone walls and the environment of the olive groves.

We also did not neglect our fields in Raša. We have carried out winter tillage so that the soil is ready to welcome the planting of tomatoes in the spring, and seeds will be sown in the greenhouse at the end of the month so that we have seedlings ready for the field by May.

Our olive groves look good – the olives are healthy, the weather is good – the temperatures are not very low, the winter is not very rainy, there is sun, and our olives are currently enjoying their zen phase. We are preparing for pruning, which will begin in early March when the danger of frost passes. For the next two months we will be constantly working in the olive groves, visiting them to check that there are no pests or diseases, cultivating them and doing everything we can to keep them healthy.

We are trying to invest in the production of healthy, premium and organic olive oil, not industrial versions of the same and everything we do in these months is aimed at that goal.

Istria is a northernmost area for olive growing and thus olives grow in extreme conditions and climates, which is actually an advantage because it gives better oil quality due to shortened vegetation. However, last spring showed us teeth. In April, snow fell in Istria, which destroyed some olive groves, and as a result, the production of olive oil in Istria decreased We hope to have more luck with the weather this year.

If everything continues this way, we believe that our 9000 olives will have a good year.

Dear friends, another year has come to an end. This is the moment when we add up the pros and cons, measure how much we have done, what we would do better and where we have room for progress. We are proud of all our employees who have done an excellent job throughout the year, burning, pulling and thanks to them, every year we go one step further in our business.

Now is more than deserved time for the vacation. We hereby inform you that we will work and ship your packages until December 23 and return to work on January 10, 2022. During the holidays our webshop will work normally, all orders will be accepted and shipped by us upon return to work from January 10.

In the meantime, we wish you all the best for the upcoming holidays. Be healthy, surrounded by people spreading positivity and love and achieve everything you have imagined in 2022.

We wish you rich holiday tables with fine food, good drinks and if it is all spiced up with a drop of our oil, we will be happy to be a part of your holiday.

Thank you for the support, loyalty and love you have given us throughout the year. We promise to do our best to deserve it again next year!

Your Chiavalon Family

In October 2020, we opened our oil mill – which is actually much more than that. It is also our small factory, a place where olives are processed into olive oil, a place where oil is bottled, there is also our shop and it is a place where all our tastings are held. It is almost our home, and we invite you to come and visit us.

We have designed two tasting programs through which we want to educate you and retell you our story. Through which you can taste other Istrian products and see how our oil goes well with food and drinks. We want to introduce you to our family story, brand, oil production and educate you on how to taste and use olive oil.

Our story is much bigger than that bottle, we are not passionate just about olive oil, we also love the design and architecture, we want to change the way people look at olive oil production and we want to raise the quality. We believe that Istria is a special region, we love our life here and everything it offers us, we enjoy its beauties and the products it gives us, and through our guided tours, we want to share it with you.

Tours are held both outdoors with a view of the national park Brijuni islands and our olive groves and indoors where production is running- depending on the number of people and the season. 

Chiavalon unique tasting experiences:

TASTE ISTRIA

Get to know our story about how we began as olive growers and producers, and how olive oil has greatly influenced this region ever since the Roman Empire. The walk through our olive grove and mill will introduce you to all the production phases of extra virgin olive oil today. In our specialized tasting room in the middle of our olive mill, during the expert guided tasting you will learn how to recognize the properties and characteristics of premium extra virgin olive oils on the market. At the end we’ll serve you a traditional snack from local producers and authentic Istrian Malvasia wine.

The program includes:

• Walkthrough the olive grove
• An educational story about the history of olive cultivation and phases of olive oil production today
• Visit the olive mill
• Guided tasting of extra virgin olive oil in our unique tasting room
• Traditional snacks from local producers and authentic Istrian Malvasia wine
• Organic homemade drinks for kids

Duration: 60 min

GRAND TASTING

At your arrival we’ll serve you a local sparkling wine and after you’ll experience the full story of our family, our history, our philosophy. We will tell you how we began as olive growers and producers, and how olive oil has greatly influenced this region ever since the Roman Empire. The walk through our olive grove and mill will introduce you to all the production phases of extra virgin olive oil today. In our specialized tasting room in the middle of our olive mill, during the expert-guided tasting of four different extra virgin olive oils, you will learn how to recognize the properties and characteristics of premium extra virgin olive oils on the market and how to pair them with different food We’ll serve you a traditional snack from local producers and authentic Istrian Malvasia wine. At the end, we’ll delight you with seasonal dessert served with sweet local wine.

The program includes:

• Welcome drink
• Walkthrough the olive grove
• An educational story about the history of olive cultivation and phases of olive oil production today
• Guided tasting of our 4 different extra virgin olive oils in our unique tasting room
• Visit the olive mill
• Traditional snacks from local producers and authentic Istrian Malvasia wine
• Surprise dessert and local sweet wine
• Organic homemade drinks for kids

Duration: 120 min

In these days this year’s olive harvest and processing in our olive oil mill is over. For the past eight weeks we have been in the field almost around the clock, harvesting, processing, tasting and hanging out in our oil mill. Although this year was bad for olive growers, there was no lack of good cheer and plans for next year.

WEATHER (CONDITIONS)

Harvesting and processing are always a special moment for us. Everything we have done and invested during the year has borne fruit – and we are satisfied. As for the olive year, this one was harder and more challenging than the last few. The snow in April delayed the flowering of the olives for May, reducing the possibility of fruit development, and since June was hot, the flowers were burned and the olives were not fertilized. For this reason, the amount of oil this year is slightly lower than last year, although this depends on the location of the olive groves and varieties, so not all colleagues had the same problems.

PROCESSING AND OIL PRODUCTION

Throughout the year we have worked on improving technology and procedures to guarantee the quality of extra virgin olive oil production. This is the second successful season in our new olive oil mill and we are proud of how everything is working. When we started building the olive oil mill, our main motivator was to be involved in every step of processing olives into olive oil so that we could stand behind our product and fully guarantee the quality – and we have succeeded. Also, this year we had new machinery for the harvest itself, which made the whole process much easier. For this reason, and the fact that we pay great attention to the organic production, storage and bottling of oil, this season’s extra virgin olive oil is of really high quality, and you have to convince yourself of the taste and smell.

FRESH OIL

After the first week of harvest, we started selling Mlado – fresh extra virgin olive oil, which comes from olives harvested in the first three days of this year’s harvest. We will start bottling new varieties and putting them on the market in a few days. Due to the increase in excise taxes and high prices of raw materials worldwide, with new blends we are forced to increase the price of olive oil for the first time in 15 years to maintain the quality of our product. This is our top priority and there is no compromise.

Our blends are one of the most awarded in the world, but that is not the only reason why people come to us for tastings. Our way of working, family and vision are what we are proud of, we push ourselves forward and that is the story we want to tell you too.

1. WE ARE NOT ORDINARY OIL MANUFACTURERS.

We started our story in 1997 with about 50 olive trees. today we have almost 9000 of them. We studied, educated ourselves and put ourselves into that story. Our whole family is woven into every meter of our oil mill, into every drop of our oil and that is our passion – to learn, work, raise quality and tell the story of tradition and technology in harmony with the production of extra virgin olive oil. We never went for quantity but for quality. And we always know it can get better and we work on it all the time.

2. WE DO THINGS IN A DIFFERENT WAY. OUR WAY.

We’ve made a very conscious effort to turn the story on new way production practices in order to guarantee only the highest quality of extra virgin olive oil. We pick olives earlier than other producers, the machines we use for processing are the most modern in Europe and we make special blends of each variety so that we can maintain the quality of our oil throughout the year. Our oil mill is the heart of our brand – we are all there together, we process olives, we fill bottles with oil, there is our shop and there we hang out with you.

3. OUR OIL IS AMONG THE TOP 15 BEST IN THE WORLD.

We have been in numerous guides for years and receive an award for our oils. Most Michelin-starred restaurants in Croatia use our oils. We are proud of our success and all the effort, sacrifice and sacrifice behind it. However, our biggest reward is our satisfaction, the positive comments of the people we meet every day, the ideas we realize and the projects that don’t stop. 

4. OUR TASTINGS ARE EDUCATIONAL, WE DO THEM FOR YOU.

We do tasting tours in our oil mill every day. There are three tasting experiences we offer – depending on how much time you have available and what you want to taste and learn. Our idea is to teach you how oil is produced, how to recognize real extra virgin olive oil from fake oils, to advise you on how to use the oil and to experience first hand how oil combines with food and drink and how much it enriches every gastronomic story.

5. WE ARE AN ECO BRAND. IN EVERY STEP OF OUR STORY

Our entire production is under certified ecological supervision. We are extremely proud to say that our extra virgin olive oil bears the Organic Label, as well as the Protected Designation of Origin, which both guarantee and ensure that this is certified 100% organic extra virgin olive oil from Istria. In addition to oil, we are also engaged in agriculture. The organic tomato passata is our first final product coming directly from fields of the valley of the river Raša. The organically culitivated tomatoes are usually harvested early in the morning and transformed, only after a few hours, into a tasty tomato passata.

If you want to experience everything we told you first hand, feel free to contact us and book your tour, we are waiting for you.

More info:

Online booking cannot be made for same-day visits.

Last booking requests for next day visits are possible to make until 6pm

If you prefer a private, tailor-made program, please contact us at [email protected]

We are open

10 am to 4 pm – Monday to Friday

We are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.