By Olive Oil Times Staff | New York

“No one born in Provence can live without the scents of the garrigue scrubland, the gusting Mistral, the sun’s caress and the magic of the olive tree, whose rippling grace has shaped the local landscape for a thousand years” Catherine and Jean-Benoît Hugues, olive growers in Les Baux de Provence.

After living for 15 years on the wide-open plains of Arizona (but with their distinctive French Midi accent intact!) Catherine and Jean-Benoît Hugues decided to go back to their roots. They returned home to Provence to dedicate themselves to their passion: the olive tree.

Castelas Mill, which they built from scratch, is the project they had nurtured ever since venturing into the world of olive farming.

They are now the owners of a 36-hectare olive grove (that’s about 90 acres), located entirely in the Vallée des Baux de Provence appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) area.

After a warm welcome within a well-contained French accent the attention turned quickly to the extra virgin olive oil before us: His November 2009 Arbequina from the esteemed Castelas estate in the Valee des Baux.

Hugues was quick to point out the following as he filled small cups with the fresh oil. This is his passion and his second calling. He doesn’t make his olive oil for the money, because there are easier ways to make a living. And he suggested I brace myself for a lttle more pungency than the 2008, thank to an early harvest and a simple trick he learned to preserve the oil before bottling: Refrigerate it. A seemingly simple measure, but one only a small artisan producer would be able to manage thanks to smaller scale containers.

The first thing I thought when I slurped the mono-varietal through my pursed lips was that this was fresh oil. Say what you want about how high-density methods get the olive to the press in 14 minutes, but this hand-harvested (hand everything) nectar popped and I saw green, and then grass, then artichokes, just a little almond, nice long olive flavor and then a polite but persistent pepper. Perfect. I immediately thought of pouring it over baked fish like cod and over brown rice. Why am I seeing it drizzled over a hard boiled egg? Oh well. Anyway.

Of course like any French gentlemen Hugues suggested the next time I’m in the South of France I would be very welcome at the estate. I believed him. I had already developed a taste for the place.

Contributed by oliveoilshop.com