Herdeiros Passanha Launches Quinta de São Vincente Olive Oil

Herdeiros Passanha estate

The long weekend of September 21-23 marked the press launch of the new Herdeiros Passanha olive oil, Quinta de São Vincente. A three-day affair, the event commenced on Friday with a private dinner for family and friends at the exquisite Passanha family estate in Ferreira do Alentejo, about two hours south of Lisbon.

Herdeiros Passanha estate, main gates

João-Felipe Passanha w/Base partner Thierry Brunfaut

The sprawling house, built in the mid 1600’s, is an exercise in old world elegance, with rich wood, stunning furniture, its own chapel, a grotto-esque swimming pool, and gardens with trees transplanted from around the world.

Herdeiros Passanha, gardens

The following day, owners João-Felipe and Luis Passanha offered this same group a tour of their production facility and 700 hectare (1730 acre) grounds.

Herdeiros Passanha, production facility

Paula Silva & Bruno Cantinho of Herdeiros Passanha

The estate is a mix of tradition and advanced technology. Though the family first produced olive oil in 1738, the current facilities are anything but millstones and manual labor. Included in the family’s 22 million euro investment is a state-of-the-art, organically-certified production plant. The brothers Passanha provided abundant information about the production process inclusive of the industrial decanter room, storage tanks (Wallpaper magazine’s ultimate fantasy), and bottling.

Storage tanks

Luis Passanha & Michael Young at the storage tanks

On Sunday, the Passanha’s welcomed journalists from Portugal’s major magazines, newspapers, and internet sites.

Hedeiros Passanha, tasting room

While the reporters sampled the oils in the tasting room, Base partner Thierry Brunfaut and industrial designer Michael Young, creater of the iconic Passanha bottle, explained the concept behind the new branding and packaging.

Thierry Brunfaut, Michael Young & João-Felipe Passanha

“Our main task was to balance the tradition and modernity that is inherent to today’s Herdeiros Passanha products.” Michael Young stressed how “the strength of the creative work was due to the close collaboration” between him and Base.

Herdeiros Passanha offers two types of olive oil, Quinta de São Vincente and Quinta de São Vincente Premium, in three sizes, 25 ml, 50 ml, and 75 ml. It will launch its super-premium, black label olive oil in March of 2009.

Herdeiros Passanha olive oil

For more information, visit the Herdeiros Passanha website here.

For a related story on Herdeiros Passanha, click here.