Terras Senhoriais – Azeite Vacinata

• 

• 

• 

Thank you to Azeite Vacinata for sending us their Terras Senhoriais EVOO.

Producer	Az. Vacinata
Crop Year	2019/2020
Cultivar	Galega, Madural, Picual and Cobrançosa
Region	Cótimos village – Trancoso – Portugal
Harvesting Method	–
Extraction Method	Cold extraction – Continuous
Tasted on	July 2020

EVOO – Food pairing advice

• 

• 

• 

• 

Portugal is one of the countries which in recent years has made the biggest steps forwards when it comes to high quality production of extra virgin olive oil; for this reason, Terras Senhoriais was not an unexpected surprise but a pleasant confirmation of the good work which producers like Azeite Vacinata are doing on their territory; the different olive varieties which bring to life to the EVOO contained in their bottles explain themselves where we are, in the northern regions of the country – in fact, it is in those areas that the Galega and Cobrançosa cultivars join the Madural and Picual. The green notes of Terras Senhoriais are combined with very particular hints of flavours which remind us of the taste of dried fruit – almond, pine nut, cashew; its fragrance and not-intrusive taste make this EVO oil perfect to be paired with first courses, as well as suitable for a meat meal, lunch or dinner.

To decide on our pairing we made this bottle “travel” a lot, to remember the times when Portuguese olive oil was appreciated and exported to both the Old and the New World. Keep reading to discover which dish we matched with Terras Senhoriais, and let us know if you agree with our pick!

Appearance & Visual Analysis

Terras Senhoriais EVO oil has a slightly veiled texture, yet maintaining good brilliance in its lemon yellow shade of colour, with deep lime green highlights.

Scents & Olfactory analysis

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Terras Senhoriais’ fruitiness is of medium intensity, the quality of its perfumes remarkable; its tones of flavour go from green vegetable ones to those of dried fruit, with some notes of fresh fruit, too. In Terras Senhoriais we can find notes of cut grass, green almond, green olive and olive leaves, and a summer-like bouquet of scents of aromatic herbs such as mint, basil, and thyme; then follow hints of green bell pepper, artichoke, green pepper, dried fruit and pine nuts. In addition to the light aroma of green banana, we also perceived a delicate hint of red fruits (i.e. currant).

Tasting: Aromas & Flavours

Pungency

Bitterness

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Terras Senhoriais EVO oil is excellent for those who do not particularly enjoy bitterness and pungency, but still appreciate the quality and balance of a good extra virgin olive oil. The flavours we find in Terras Senhoriais are those of olive, almond, thistle, lettuce and basil, showing consistency between the olfactory and gustatory analysis. During the tasting, the bitterness arrives before a more strong spiciness, but neither intensity goes over the top. The aftertaste is characterized by notes of dried fruit.

We love it with…

Learn how to pair EVOO and food on our easy guide: Olive Oil Pairings.

We recommend pairing Terras Senhoriais EVO oil by Azeite Vacinata with baked or stewed white and red meat, risotto, pasta, vegetable bruschetta, and egg-based recipes such as deviled eggs, fried eggs or omelette with vegetables; Terras Senhoriais can also be enjoyed with light vegetable appetizers.
Terras Senhoriais greenness, balanced taste and dried fruit aromas make it perfect for pasta with different kinds of pesto – Genovese, Trapani, Calabrian, dried tomatoes and hazelnuts, Walnut sauce, and Mediterranean eggplant pesto.
We recommend Terras Senhoriais on cheese risotto such as risotto alla parmigiana or 4 cheeses risotto, and risotto with sausage or porcini mushrooms (do you want to know how to prepare a risotto with EVO oil without butter?); we also find it excellent on traditional and velvety soups made with carrot, artichoke, or pumpkin. Any more suggestions? Try it on traditional canederli (bread dumplings) with speck (smoked prosciutto)!
And if you feel more daring, Terras Senhoriais is an extra virgin olive oil that can be suitable for oriental cuisine, and for Chinese cuisine to be more precise: excellent to be paired with steamed meat ravioli, stir-fried rice noodles and chicken or pork; and why not try it on some variations of Gukbap, the notorious Korean rice soup?
As for meat, Terras Senhoriais is perfect for chicken or even for saltimbocca alla romana, veal, pork chops, escalopes with mushrooms, polpettone and meatballs, pork loin braised in milk, and rabbit alla Cacciatora.

We tried Terras Senhoriais with almond chicken served on a white rice base; almonds go perfectly with the hints of dried fruit of this Portuguese extra virgin olive oil, and the medium fruitiness, balanced pungency and bitterness of this EVO oil connect all the different flavors of the dish in the mouth without covering the delicate sweet notes of flavours of the chicken and rice.

Azeite Vacinata

“The history of extra virgin olive oil Vacinata starts in the 12th -13th century. Persisting history, we water the lands around Vacinata castle. From our olive groves, olives are harvested then cold pressed in our mill of Cótimos village, descendants of the people living around the castle that existed centuries ago. We grow, maintain and produce a natural and pure olive oil which crossed centuries.
We pass down history in every single bottle: the one we want to imagine.
In the heights of the alleged Vacinata castle, we can find the mill Ramos Lagar, Lda., which produces, from its own olive groves, the Vacinata olive oil.
The mill’s priority is the quality of the olive oil to perfectly match your diet and provide its benefits thanks to the preservation of all nutritional and organoleptic properties.
At Ramos Lagar, Lda, you can produce your olive oil through hot or cold pressing. Its production line allows both methods without waiting time since its production capacity is six tons every hour.
Despite the fact that they produce Vacinata olive oil, the mill allows people to come by and offer its olives for selling, or ask for the transformation of it into olive oil. Different commercial plans are available.
This activity enhances the surrounding region by offering itself to the communities around, to who wants to press its olives, nurturing the oleoculture.”

Azeite Vacinata
Largo do Rossio 22
6420-351 Cótimos
Trancoso – Guarda
Portugal
Phone Contacts: +33 6 45 86 23 60
E-mail: gerencia@vacinata.pt
Az. Vacinata website

The district of Guarda is a North-East Portuguese region included in the Azeites da Beira PDO olive production area; it is one of the Portuguese regions which, over time, have been able to express olive oils of high quality which end up being exported to other European and foreign markets. The region of Guarda is crossed by the famous Duoro river, while the omonimous city is the one at the highest altitude in mainland Portugal (1,056 masl). Like in many other regions of the Mediterranean, in Guarda olive oil has had and still has an important economic, social and historical value, as well as gastronomic notoriousness, of course; olive oil is the basis of many popular recipes (including sweets preparations) and is used as a natural remedy for the most common seasonal diseases.
Discover other regions.

Galega is one of the most ancient and representative cultivars of Portugal, very appreciated for its resistance to droughts, but not as used anymore in more modern olive cultivation due to its unsuitability to mechanized harvesting. Galega is also excellent as a table olive, in its black and dry version; it is cultivated especially in the northern area of ​​the country, but it can also be found in the southern regions of central Portugal.

Cobrançosa is the most common Portuguese cultivar in the continental and northern areas of the country, in the Trás-os-Montes region (Alto Douro); it is very resistant to cold temperatures but suffers from heat and drought. Cobrançosa is characterized by a high yield in olive oil production, and can be used for mechanized harvesting as its fruits can be easily detached from the plant (which is why we also find the Cobrançosa cultivar in the Alentejo area, and its new intensive and super-intensive groves).