Our history
Producing olive oil since 1429
We are the sixteenth generation of a family that has been making oil since the fifteenth century with olives from our olive groves in Monteagudo, in the Ribera de Navarra.
More than 160 years ago our oil received national and international awards. At present we have renovated our olive groves and we reserve a small batch of our best olives to produce by hand an Extra Virgin Olive Oil with all the flavor of our land.
Chronology
Sixteen generations of the family have succeeded one another over the course of six hundred years. Each one of them has been able to adapt to its time and, building on the respect for the family tradition, has used the most advanced techniques and scientific knowledge of each moment to modernize the farm, making it more efficient and obtaining the best possible oils.
The origin
Purchase of olive groves
Reconstruction
Modernization
New investments
First acknowledgements
Expansion
International awards
New olive mill and difficult times
New momentum
Tradition + technology
Our land
Our olive groves are located in the Queiles Valley, in the municipality of Monteagudo, in the south of Navarra, at the intersection of Aragón, Castilla and La Rioja, a land bounded by the Moncayo with its 2314 meters of altitude, the Ebro River and its fertile Ribera and the Bardenas Reales, a semi-desert area.
We have more than 50 hectares of Arbequina and Arróniz varieties, distributed in eight farms located 400 meters above sea level with soils and climate that allow us to produce extra virgin olive oils of the highest quality and great personality.
Our olive groves are located on sandy loam soils, with neutral pH and rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium. As the soil contains many of the nutrients needed by the olive trees, the need for fertilizers is reduced.
The climate is ideal. Winters are cold and summers are dry and hot. The thermal differences between day and night, and between winter and summer, are fundamental for the correct development of the olive tree and to enhance the aromas of its fruit. In addition, the “cierzo”, the strong north wind that prevails in the area – 40% of the days winds blow at more than 20 km/h – aerates the plants and prevents pests.
The irrigable area of the Queiles River is one of the oldest and most complex in the entire Ebro basin. The farmers, from very remote dates, built long irrigation ditches with direct intake from the river, which were intercommunicating with each other through derivations. This complex and ancient system allows us to take advantage of the water coming from the Moncayo for support irrigation when necessary.
Finally, an olive-growing tradition of more than 2,000 years brings a natural wisdom to the farmers to obtain the best fruits. Tradition is combined with cutting-edge processes and technologies that have been implemented in the mills in recent years and that allow us to produce extra virgin olive oil while preserving all the flavor, aroma and properties of the olives.
Oleum fert memoria terrae: olive oil carries within itself the memory of the land. The extra virgin olive oil Castillo de Monteagudo carries within it the memory of our land, aired by the wind and irrigated with the cold waters that pour from the Moncayo.
Our values
As we learned from our elders, we use our resources responsibly to avoid their depletion, ensuring their sustainability in order to pass them on to the next generation. We reduce the use of fertilizers and phytosanitary products to the minimum necessary, which is helped by the ideal conditions of our farms.
Studies carried out by the Eco-Efficient Cropping Systems Group of the University of Cordoba in hedgerow olive groves similar to those we have in Monteagudo conclude that they have a positive balance in the carbon footprint, with carbon capture far exceeding energy emissions. According to this study, 1.24 kg of CO2 eq are captured for each liter of oil produced, a figure equivalent to that emitted by 40 cars during a whole year. Consuming our olive oil, therefore, is as beneficial for our health as it is for the planet.
There are companies that work thinking about the next quarter, most of them plan for the next fiscal year, and a few plan for three or five years. When a project like ours has been in existence for 600 years through sixteen generations, the vision is very different: we do not act thinking about the next quarters or fiscal years, but about the generations that will follow us. This vision is reflected in everything we do.
We allocate 1% of our extra virgin olive oil production to NGOs for use in soup kitchens. In addition, we cooperate with our community and other institutions by organizing and participating in different training, informative and social projects and activities.
We spare no effort or investment in olive grove management and oil production, using only the best olives and always prioritizing quality over yield. At the same time, we carry out a strict cost control and limit to the maximum all superfluous and structural expenses. This allows us to offer an extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality at a reasonable price. An oil for those who value essence over appearance; for those who prefer being to seeming.
The castle
Built more than a thousand years ago, it dominates the Queiles Valley, a landscape between the Moncayo and the Ebro, dotted with olive groves, vineyards and cereal fields, the same products that the Romans cultivated in these lands 2,000 years ago.
Being a border fortress, located at the apex of Navarra, Aragon and Castilla, the castle of Monteagudo has suffered countless sieges and battles that have forced successive reconstructions, the last of them in the eighteenth century after the War of the Spanish Succession.
The old chronicles tell us of the resistance that the Arab garrison of the castle put up to Alfonso the Battler when in the second decade of the 12th century he carried out his victorious campaign on both banks of the Ebro: “very primitive and almost impregnable, it had to succumb to the reason of the strongest and most tenacious”.
It has also witnessed important historical events, such as the signing of the treaty of peace and mutual assistance between King Theobald II of Navarra and James I of Aragon.
The kings of Navarra donated in 1429 the Castle and the Lordship of Monteagudo to Florestán de Agramont for the services he had rendered to the queen “both in Navarra and in Sicily, in Castilla and in other parts of the world”. Since then it has remained in the family, passing by inheritance successively to the Beaumont, Magallón – Marquises of San Adrián since the XVII century – and Sanz-Magallón.
With the incorporation of Navarra to Castilla and the union of the peninsular kingdoms, the strategic importance of Monteagudo as a border enclave diminished. However, during the War of the Succession (1701-1713) it regained its military use, as Navarre was a supporter of Philip V while neighboring Aragon embraced the cause of Archduke Charles of Austria. At the end of the war, the Aragonese raids had left it in a ruinous and completely uninhabitable state.
During the following decades the castle was mainly used as a warehouse and granary, until in 1760 the IV Marquis of San Adrián decided to rebuild it, for which he requested a loan of 5,000 ducats and hired Josef Marzal, the most prestigious architect in the area. The castle was almost completely demolished and the current palace of baroque style, very characteristic of the Ribera de Navarra, was built in its place.
At the end of the 20th century, the 14th Marquis of San Adrián, José Luis Sanz-Magallon, architect and painter, restored the castle-palace. The current building retains some elements of the original castle, including the stone facade and the cistern, and is home to the Monteagudo Castle Foundation.
