They liked the olive oil so much they bought the property, moved from Victoria and have made an exciting fresh start with Clare Estate orchard, grove and gardens.
Melissa and Eric Verecundi initially came to Clare as visitors in 2021, having escaped COVID-19 lockdown in their home state of Victoria to visit their son, a Flying Doctor pilot stationed in Port Augusta. On an excursion to Clare, they visited the Evilo Estate farm homestead on Farrell Flat Rd and tasted Evilo Estate olive oil and olives, loved the product – and then learned the property was for sale. A week later, they made an offer to buy it and decided to move to Clare permanently.
“It was all instinct – no planning,” explains Melissa. “I’m a horticulturist and Eric worked as an industrial chemist at a refinery for 33 years and was thoroughly sick of it. We needed a change – and now we are so happy because we absolutely love it in Clare and also love all the local people we have made contact with.
“Now, the whole family is here. We brought my mother over at Christmas, and our youngest son has also moved from Victoria to be with us. It’s the right fit for all of us.”
It’s just as well, because there’s plenty of work to do on their property, which they have re-named Clare Estate. Established in 1901, the biodynamic farm boasts an olive grove which is home to about 1200 olive trees, including eight different varieties – Verdale, Pendolino, Leccino, Kalamata, Manzanillo, Koroneki and Frantoio.
Having recently purchased an olive press to control production of their own oil, Melissa and Eric have also taken on picking and processing olives from other neighbouring properties – and they will be picking from five groves this year, which equates to about 4000 trees.
To compliment the olives on Clare Estate, an abundant orchard and garden also boasts thriving species of orange, lemon, lemonade and lime, mandarin, persimmon, nectarine, apricot, pear, nashi pear, apples, cherry, walnut, chestnut and a 100-year-old mulberry tree.
Many of these ingredients make their way into an expansive range of Clare Estate products – and have inspired some new offerings, including black garlic paste (gently fermented in high humidity for over 30 days), pastes flavoured with Riesling and Shiraz, dukkha, mulberry vinegar and flavoured salts.
A curious complement to Clare Estate’s extra virgin olive oil is a range of agrumato – flavoured oils, produced by pressing olives with lemons or mandarins or chilli, which are all harvested from the property.
“Eric’s family come from Tuscany and this is their traditional way to make flavoured oils, and they are loaded with flavour,” says Melissa. “They are perfect with meat and fish dishes, vegetables and dips – but specifically, I’d suggest mandarin agrumato drizzled on hummus, lemon agrumato on halloumi, and chilli oil is ideal for dipping bread into.”
An even more surprising success has been the introduction of bagged pet treats – initially designed to appease Melissa’s dog but now proving to be very popular with a growing number of online and cellar door customers.
“It’s just freeze-dried food that we make up in batches – chicken livers, or kangaroo, or lamb – so it’s like astronaut food for pets. It keeps forever, so that’s probably a big reason why pet owners love it.”
With all these products available through a new Clare Estate web site – along with fresh branding, packaging and a few recipes to suggest how to best use these products – fresh interest is being directed to the Clare Estate brand, and with refurbishment underway at the farmgate tasting room (they are still accepting visitors to the property by appointment), Melissa is certain her family’s decision to relocate to Clare is a winning decision.
