Does Quartz Hill produce new season oil or nuovo oil?

Does Quartz Hill Produce New Season Oil or Nuovo Oil?

It's a question we're asked more often as awareness of early harvest olive oil grows in Australia. The answer matters, and the distinction goes to the heart of what we're trying to achieve with every bottle.

What is nuovo oil?

Nuovo oil (or olio nuovo) is olive oil bottled immediately after pressing. It's intentionally cloudy, intensely fruity and unstabilised. The cloudiness comes from suspended water droplets and microscopic olive fruit particles that haven't had time to settle.

In Italy it's a celebrated seasonal tradition, released in the weeks immediately after harvest as a vivid, raw expression of the new crop. It's extraordinary in those first weeks. But it's not designed to last — and its polyphenol stability reflects that.

What is new season oil?

New season oil is also made immediately after pressing — but it's gone through either a natural or mechanical process to clarify and stabilise the oil before bottling. The result is an oil whose polyphenols, flavour compounds and antioxidants are balanced and protected through careful handling rather than rushed to bottle.

Quartz Hill produces naturally settled new season oil . Here's why that matters for polyphenol concentration specifically:

The polyphenol question

Polyphenols, including oleocanthal and hydroxytyrosol, are the compounds responsible for the health benefits of genuinely high-quality extra virgin olive oil. They're also the compounds most vulnerable to degradation.

Freshly pressed oil contains tiny droplets of water and microscopic olive particles. Left suspended in the oil, these particles accelerate oxidation and reduce polyphenol stability over time. Nuovo oil is at its peak in the days immediately after pressing — but its polyphenol integrity declines faster than a properly settled and stabilised oil.

Our goal isn't the cloudiest oil. Our goal is to create the highest quality olive oil that maintains its polyphenol concentration as close to harvest levels as possible — not just on day one, but many months later. That's why Quartz Hill is independently lab tested at every harvest, and why the process to protect that number until the next harvest matters as much as the number itself.

Nature does the work: mechanical vs natural filtration

Rather than forcing the oil through a mechanical filter, we allow it to rest in specially designed stainless steel tanks where gravity does the work. Over time, the water and fruit particles naturally settle to the bottom — a traditional process known as natural settling or racking.

Our tanks are specifically designed so that settled sediment can be removed without disturbing the clarified oil above. Once naturally clarified, we carefully transfer only the clear oil into freshly cleaned stainless steel storage tanks. These tanks are housed in temperature controlled cellars where we hand-bottle regularly throughout the year.

This gentle process minimises handling whilst removing the material most likely to reduce freshness and polyphenol stability over time.

Protected until bottling

Oxygen is one of the greatest enemies of polyphenols in olive oil.

After racking, our oil is stored under an inert gas blanket in food-grade stainless steel tanks. This protective layer prevents oxygen from coming into contact with the oil, preserving its vibrant aroma, flavour and naturally occurring polyphenols and antioxidants until the moment of bottling.

Why we don't bottle cloudy oil

Cloudy olive oil often looks appealing — it signals freshness from the mill. But the cloudiness is caused by suspended water and tiny olive particles that, left in the bottle, continue to change over time. They accelerate oxidation, reduce polyphenol stability and affect flavour.

By allowing the oil to naturally settle before bottling, we remove this sediment whilst preserving the oil's natural character.

Our philosophy

We believe exceptional olive oil is created through careful decisions at every stage:

• Early harvesting for naturally high polyphenols
• Rapid cold extraction within hours of picking
• Gentle natural settling and racking instead of mechanical filtering
• Storage in stainless steel under inert gas
• Year-round temperature controlled cellar storage
• Bottling only when the oil is at its best

Our goal isn't to produce the cloudiest oil. Our goal is to produce an olive oil that tastes as fresh, vibrant and balanced months after harvest as it did the day it was made.

Sometimes, the best technology is simply giving nature the time to do its work.