Colquhoun Olives is an olive grove owned and operated by Robert and Pam Colquhoun. Robert and Pam bought a property on Lower Piambong Road, Mudgee in May 1999 after an extensive search of the area for a property suitable for growing olives. Previously, the property had grown Texsel lambs and won many awards for the quality of the lambs produced. It seemed they had found a property where growing was producing some excellent results already.

The first 1,500 trees were planted in September 1999 followed by further plantings in 2000 and 2001, bringing the total to 4,000 trees. In 2003, the Colquhouns harvested olives from the original planting in 2003 with increasing yield the following years.

Colquhoun olives are hand harvested to ensure they are in the best possible condition for pressing, which is undertaken within hours of picking to produce outstanding quality Rossdhu Extra Virgin Olive Oils.

The property, Rossdhu, named after the Colquhoun seat in Scotland, is approximately 7 kilometres from Mudgee, heading towards Gulgong. Mudgee’s climate of cold winters and hot summers lends itself perfectly to growing premium quality olives. It also boasts beautiful scenary and plenty of places to visit, eat out and try the Mudgee wines— so plan a visit soon!

Pam and Robert have undertaken extensive training in organoleptic assessment,that is the aroma and taste of olive oil, with and under the guidance of a variety of experts in the field. They include:

• Luciano Di Giovacchino from Chieti University Italy, a member of the International Olive Oil Council Organoleptic Panel;
• Judy Ridgway (UK), author of Best Olive Oil Buys around the World, and an international judge and expert on taste and flavour in olive oil. Judy is also author of the European Commission Paper on Taste and Flavour in Olive Oil
• Justo del Amo Hernandez from Spain, an expert on culinary uses of olive oils and the tasting of oils
• Linda Costa from South Africa, consultant on table olives and organoleptic training
  Richard Gawel, Chairman of the Australian Olive Association Organoleptic Panel.