News & Events
Introducing the Blending Lab...
Mount Zero are celebrating the 2010 olive oil harvest by throwing the doors open for you to taste, blend and savour extra virgin olive oil at its absolute best - staright from the press.
Know your Claret from your Beaujolais! What about your Picual from your Manzanilla?
For two weeks we are moving our blending lab from the Mount Zero Farm to the cellar at the Prince Wine Store in St Kilda. Join us between 12pm & 7pm daily, to taste and select from 10 distinct varietals, from across Victoria. Or alternatively create your own blend!
Monday 26th July - Sunday 8th August
Prince Wine Store (Cellar), 2a Acland St, St Kilda
Olive Oil Masterclass
Renowned chef Paul Wilson & Richard Seymour (Mount Zero Olives), take you through the principles of olive oil tasting, appreciation & application. Celebrate the nuances of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and understand how variety, terroir and pressing methods affect olive oil quality & flavour.
$28 per person (includes 375ml bottle of new seasons oil). All classes are one hour in duration. Maximum ten attendees per session.
Bookings essential. Phone (03) 9315 1415 or e-mail info@mountzeroolives.com
Four sessions available: Wednesday 28th July 7pm, Sunday 1st August 3pm, Wednesday 4th August 7pm & Sunday 8th August 3pm.
Prince Wine Store (Cellar), 2a Acland St, St Kilda.
2010 Oil Amnesty
Bring to the lab between 4pm & 6pm, your current imported EVOO, taste against our fresh, local EVOO and you choose which one to dump! We will replace any imported bottle with a superior, fresher local EVOO. Limit one bottle per person.
Why an Oil Amnesty?
An Oil Amnesty is an initiative of Mount Zero to rid Australia of inferior imported EVOO. Between 26th July-8th August, Mount Zero will be utilising the Prince Wine Store (Cellar), St Kilda to showcase the beauty and diversity of local new seasons oils. Each day between 4pm & 6pm, we invite you to compare your imported EVOO sitting int he cupboard at home versus our local EVOO, and make the choice - which one to dump? Mount Zero will replace any dumped inferior bottle of EVOO with 375ml of Mount Zero EVOO.
So I can really take in an inferior imported bottle of extra virgin olive oil and you're going to give me a bottle of Mount Zero EVOO free of charge?
Yes, that's right. You bring us a bottle of inferior bottle of EVOO (it must be opened, undamaged and tasted at the blending lab) between 4-6pm each day between 26th July-8th August 2010 and we'll give you a 375ml bottle of Mount Zero EVOO. No strings or false pretences attached. Our aim is to rid Australia of poor quality EVOO.
Is there a limit on how many bottles I can swap?
Yes there is. It's one opened bottle of inferior imported EVOO in exchange for a single bottle of 375ml Mount Zero EVOO per person.
Did you know?
There is no mandatory standard for extra virgin olive oil sold in Australia, so you have to trust that an oil labelled 'extra virgin' is mechanically extracted from top quality olives, isn't adulterated or refined, and is stored and handled correctly so that is remains of the highest grade at the point of purchase.
A recent Choice study found that half the extra virgin olive oils tested on supermarket shelves in February this year - most of which were imported from Italy and Spain - did not meet the widely accepted International Olive Councils (IOC) trade standard for 'extra virgin'.
Lucky local producers are a proud bunch!
Despite no mandatory standard for extra virgin olive oil sold in Australia, local producers are a proud bunch, and take extreme lengths to ensure fruit is of a high quality, harvested correctly and pressed between 2-6 hours of picking to ensure best practice handling, processing and storage. The result ... a superior EVOO determined by both organoleptic (sensory) and chemical testing.
"Share Africa" comes to Mount Zero
Sharing recipes, stories and dishes from Sudan.
Gather in the Grampians with Sudanese women to make traditional Ethiopian flat bread and to learn the art of 'hand-beading' dough to create grains of cous cous. Indulge in the unique flavours and aromas of fantastic African cuisine, while learning how to re-create these dishes for your own dinner table.
A relaxed atmosphere with plenty of time to hear the women's stories of life in their homelands and their journeys to Ballarat. Feast on cous cous, bread and other delicious dishes prepared by the "Share Africa" women, and take your creations hoem to share!
May you never buy cous cous in a packet again!
Only 15 places available - book now. Age limit of 16+ applies.
When Sunday 8 August, 12PM - 4PM
Where Mount Zero Farm, Winfield Road, Laharum, The Grampians
Cost $65.00 - cooking workshop and feast
Bookings 03 5383 8280 or shiree@pilkintonproductions.com
Salt Harvest - April 2009
About 50km from the Mount Zero Olive grove, is a large crater like pink salt lake. The lake is fed by natural saline aquifers and each summer dries to reveal a bed of salmon pink salt. Mount Zero Olives and the lake’s traditional owners, the Jardwadjali community, have been working together on a project to hand harvest a small amount of salt from the lake each year.
Mount Zero Pink Lake Salt is a natural product which varies in pigment from wet to dry. The local providence of the salt, along with the it’s hand harvesting & natural sun drying, and most importantly the salt’s beautiful flavour and colour are a perfect fit with Mount Zero’s core principles of sustainability, regionalism and quality.
We celebrated the end of our first harvest this Easter, however we are still working on our packaging and expect to have salt available in August.
Due to the wonderfull response we have had from the recent ABC Landline segment 19/07/09, we have packaged a small amout of salt for online sale, until we have our full retail packaging available.
