BLOOD TO BOTH FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, FADRIQUE
ÁLVAREZ DE TOLEDO WAS ONE OF THEIR MAIN ADVISORS.
HE PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN THE RECONQUEST OF GRANADA
IN 1492 AS WELL AS IN THE DECISION TO SEND CHRISTOPHER
COLUMBUS ACROSS THE OCEAN THAT SAME YEAR.
THE ÁLVAREZ DE TOLEDO FAMILY AND THE DISCOVERER
OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT ENJOYED SUCH A CLOSE
RELATIONSHIP THAT COLUMBUS’S ONLY LEGITIMATE SON,
DIEGO, MARRIED FADRIQUE’S GRANDDAUGHTER, MARÍA.
TODAY, THE DESCENDANTS OF THE GREAT ADMIRAL’S SEVEN
LEGITIMATE HEIRS, BORN TO DIEGO COLUMBUS AND MARÍA
ÁLVAREZ DE TOLEDO, ARE SPREAD OUT IN VARIOUS PARTS
OF EUROPE AND THE AMERICAS.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XVIITH CENTURY, WHEN A SINGLE
KING REIGNED OVER SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, THE DUTCH
ATTEMPTED TO INVADE BRAZIL WITH THE LARGEST FLEET
EVER TO CROSS THE ATLANTIC. LEADING THE JOINT LUSOHISPANIC FORCES WAS ANOTHER ÁLVAREZ DE TOLEDO,
ADMIRAL FADRIQUE, NAMED AFTER HIS ANCESTOR. AS A
REWARD FOR DEFEATING THE FLEET, FADRIQUE RECEIVED
LANDS AND THE TITLE OF MARQUIS OF VALDUEZA.
THE MAKING OF
THE MARQUIS’S
OLIVE OIL
ONE OF THE MARQUIS OF VALDUEZA’S HOLDINGS IS AN
ESTATE IN THE TOWN OF PERALES, SETTLED BY THE ROMANS
OVER 2,000 YEARS AGO, WHERE AN EXCELLENT OLIVE
OIL HAS BEEN PRODUCED THROUGHOUT THE REGION’S
RECORDED HISTORY. THE MARQUIS’S OLIVE OIL WAS
FIRST PRODUCED IN 1624, ON THE VERY SAME ESTATE AS
THE MARQUÉS DE VALDUEZA OIL WE KNOW TODAY.
NOWADAYS, IT IS YET ANOTHER FADRIQUE ÁLVAREZ DE
TOLEDO, SON OF THE CURRENT MARQUIS AND HEIR TO
THE TITLE, WHO OVERSEES PRODUCTION.
MARQUÉS DE VALDUEZA IS AN EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
CHARACTERIZED BY A MODERATE FRUITINESS, ENHANCED
BY BOTH GREEN AND MATURE NOTES. IT FEATURES LIGHT
AROMAS OF APPLE, GREEN TOMATO, CUT GRASS AND
GREEN ALMONDS, WITH STRONGER NOTES OF MATURE
ALMOND AND FRUIT. ON THE PALATE, IT IS SWEET AND
LIGHTLY BITTER AT FIRST, FOLLOWED BY SLIGHTLY MORE
PIQUANT AND ALMONDY NOTES, EXTREMELY WELL BALANCED
WITH A LONG, PERSISTENT AFTERTASTE.
FAVUZ Z I.CO M / O CTO B ER 2 0 1 6 / PAG E 2 5