Many producers on the land in the Yarra Ranges grow wine, a titular industry in the hills as an ideal place for vines in its cooler climate. Yet, one family business went a different route at their Yellingbo property, instead of fermenting grape juice they went for the timeless golden nectar of olives. Gazette journalist Corey Everitt spoke with Yellingbo Gold’s Howard Meltzer and his internationally recognised olive oil.
In the small town of Yellingbo, shifting through the cool air of Yarra Ranges, are Howard’s field of olive trees, all well-mature at about three decades old.
The yearly fruits of these trees have not just produced liters of gold for Melbourne’s premier establishments, but put the small town on the map internationally.
Winning awards against the best of the best across the world, being recognised in Spain – the world’s seat for olive oil.
Yellingbo Gold has made the pages of The New York Times, Esquire and The Washington Post. It was even highlighted by Martha Stewart when Howard’s son Jeremy made an appearance on the former daytime cooking show.
“Really, people are not that interested that you won this or that, they just want to taste it,” Howard said after being asked about the list of accolades.
“The main thing is that your customers enjoy it, they come back.”
Olives were not originally integral to the Meltzer family.
Formerly living in the city, Howard and the family moved to Yellingbo after his career as a solicitor.
It was quite a change to move to the cool air and wide vistas of the Yarra Ranges.
“We bought this as a family farm without any intention to do anything,” Howard said
“I liked the lifestyle and the outdoors. I spent most of my life at a desk, so it was a nice contrast.
“I suppose there wasn’t a lot of planting but incrementally you get in deeper and deeper.”
Wine in the hills was as big then as it is today, but the family farm went a different way.
“In those days everybody was sticking in grapes for wine and the feedback I was getting was don’t, it’s a lot of work.”
“But there is just as much work on olive trees.”
The first trees were planted through 1994 to 95, a long process where it can take five years to see a first harvest.
Oil started flowing. However, in Howard’s words, “then you gotta sell the damn stuff.”
Yellingbo Gold hasn’t focused on the mass market, a family business on a smaller scale is hard to enter supermarkets against the giant companies.
The next best customer base is the restaurant industry itself, the problem with that if you want to break into the industry, you need to have some good product.
“The chefs know oil, you see, you can’t give sh** to them they won’t buy,” Howard said.
Yellingbo Gold is used in dishes at key Melbourne establishments as well as wider Victoria, from Rockpool and Sofitel in Melbourne to the Healesville Hotel.
It formerly was exported for retail in the United States, but this has currently ceased since the pandemic.
The goal for the farm is to produce the best quality extra-virgin olive oil, using a range of varieties to make the best flavour.
“Extra-virgin is actually a scientific category, it’s not just a name and it’s very confusing for the public,” Howard said.
“You have extra-virgin which is the top quality, then you have virgin, it’s a second quality.
“There is a chemical test for the certain acidity.
“Then you will see something named just olive oil and that’s often the poorest quality, traditionally it was just used for lighting lamps and making soap.”
You would think there would be an innovative secret behind the technique to produce such top quality olive oil preferred by chefs.
However, for Howard it’s straightforward.
“It’s just a fruit, that’s all it is and the fresher the better,” he said.
“You can see it’s healthy and free of disease, and you pick it and crush it very quickly.
“You pick and you process on the same day.
“And the storage side is important, the only thing that damages olive oil is light and heat.”
If a batch goes wrong, many times it’s out of their control – as it is for most farmers.
The recent seasons have affected crops severely, particularly the instability between intervals of heavy rain and extreme heat meaning that Yellingbo yields have been limited.
This is general across the industry through the world where crop yields have been poor in even Europe.
This combined with the war-induced strain on international trade has seen olive oil prices skyrocket.
Despite this, with promising looking olives emerging on the trees as harvest is around the corner, Howard seems unfazed by the matters he can’t control and looks forward to getting the farm’s liquid gold flowing in kitchens.
“I enjoy it, you gotta have something to do, some reason to get out of bed in the morning,” Howard said.
Yellingbo Gold does sell and deliver on demand through their website at yellingbo.com
