Throughout the classical wine-producing regions of the world, there is a natural association between the olive grove and the vineyard. At TOKARA, this celebrated relationship is being continued.

With 18 hectares of olive trees growing on the steepest slopes of the farm, and a plan to increase this number to 20 ha by 2012, the ‘Olive Shed’ is bringing a quality olive oil to accompany TOKARA wines at the table.

Projections are that by 2012, TOKARA will process 300 tons of olives every year, making the olive groves a substantial contributor to the success of the whole enterprise.

The Olive Shed and its groves are situated on the TOKARA farm and can therefore be associated with much of the interesting site’s history.

The groves, for example, are planted on the steepest slopes of the farm, known historically as ‘De Hel’, which is an abbreviation of the Dutch word ‘helling’, meaning “steep heights”. It was from this‘Hel’, that the name of the renowned ‘Helshoogte’ Pass nearby was derived.

The Olive Shed project began in 2000 with the establishment of a 4 ha olive grove. In 2001, just 500 bottles were produced from purchased fruit, and sold out within two weeks. In 2002, a more substantial 18 000 litres were produced, with 8000 litres being bottled under The Olive Shed label.

Today, this figure is considerable higher and prospects are that it will continue to rise well into the future.