In your grove
Your home is nestled in one of our working olive groves. We wanted to share some information about the trees around you and what you might see during your stay.
Our first olive trees were planted in 1997, at Rangihoua Estate. Since then, Allpress Olive Groves has taken shape as the home of world-class extra virgin olive oil on Waiheke Island, and exceptional island experiences.
While the groves have been around for decades, Allpress Olive Groves itself was founded in 2021 by Michael Allpress. After 33 years at the helm of Allpress Espresso, Michael, a Waiheke Island local, began producing olive oil from trees on his property in 2016, working with Rangihoua Estate to mill his olives. When the opportunity to purchase Rangihoua Estate and number29 came up in 2021, Allpress Olive Groves was born.
Matiatia Millhouse has a total of 253 olive trees, these are made up of predominantly Frantoio and Koroneiki.
Koroneiki is a Greek olive tree, with tiny fruit the size of a pea. This tree loves Waiheke’s salty sea breezes and produces a surprisingly high oil yield.
Frantoio is a Tuscan varietal from Southern Italy. An excellent tree that consistently produces world-class oil every year. Frantoio has medium-sized fruit with a creamy and buttery flavour profile.
Outdoor garden
This home has a beautiful vegetable & herb garden, loaded with seasonal goodness and cared for by our wonderful gardening team. Please help yourself and make use of the freshly grown greens and herbs in your cooking.
The Millhouse has a range of natives, along with pre-grown totara hedges and Little Gem magnolias that provide structure for the formal mass planting of Mutabilis roses in front of the terrace. The garden in front of the house has a variety of Japanese maples along with gardenias and camellias. Mass planting of Rain lilies (Zephyranthes candida), Star Jasmine and Muehlenbeckia provide ground cover.
What's happening in your grove?
We wanted to share what you might see happening in your grove during your stay. Feel free to walk and explore the grove, and if you’d like to learn more, pop into our Tasting Room & Store to talk to the team.
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Mar - May
Harvest time – this is our favourite time of the year. You might see our harvest team in action, as this is the season for picking and milling our olives.
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Jun - Sept
The winter prune – during August and September, you might see our team in your grove pruning the olive trees, to ensure they’re in their best shape and ready for the new season.
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Sept
Planting new olive trees – during this time of the year, you might spot our team planting new olive trees in your grove. Olive trees love dry conditions and that’s why we plant in early spring.
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Oct
Flowering – during this time of the year, you’ll see tiny olive flowers on the trees. You might see our team in the grove checking the flowering and ensuring they’re in good growing condition.
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Nov - Dec
Spring budding – during this time of the year, you’ll see little olive buds appearing on the trees. Our team will be popping into the grove from time to time to check these buds to ensure the trees are healthy and ready to grow.
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Jan - Feb
During this time of the year the team will be in the grove completing grove maintenance and harvest preparation.
