About Us

The Inspiration For Rangihoua Estate

Colin, Anne and Gavin Sayles

The inspiration for growing olive trees and producing olive oil came from Stephen White of Stonyridge Vineyard, producer of one of the top Bordeaux wines of the world. The relationship between Stonyridge Vineyard and Rangihoua Estate, began after Anne Sayles worked at Stonyridge for five years. During that time Colin and Anne Sayles not only developed a passion for beautiful wine, but were also inspired by the olive trees growing at Stonyridge Vineyard. After a trip to Tuscany, Italy, in 1996 Colin, Anne and Gavin Sayles decided that they would plant their own property in Olives, and they set out to buy a commercial olive press. Colin had picked olives on a farm in Tuscany and he aimed to produce an olive oil like that he’d been involved with there. Back home in New Zealand, Colin poured green olive oil out of the five litre jar he’d carried 36,000 kilometres home from Tuscany, announcing to friends and family:“If we can produce olive oil like this, then we’ll be in with a chance.”

The dream has proved more successful than the Sayles had ever hoped. After winning consecutive gold medals in New Zealand in 2001, 2002 and 2003, it was time to test the oil against the rest of the world. In 2003 Rangihoua Estate entered two of their extra virgin olive oils into the Los Angeles County Fair International Olive Oil Awards, where both oils gained gold medals. In 2004 Rangihoua Estate returned to LA, entered their range of four oils at the International Olive Oil Awards and received three gold medals and one silver.

Rangihoua Estate on Waiheke Island: where else in the world can you find four of the worlds best olive oils in one place? Call us now to arrange a visit and enjoy a tasting or order some of our olive oils online.

Producing Rangihoua Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Rangihoua Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil

All the olives are handpicked at the optimum level of ripeness, using small hand rakes to comb the olives off the tree. Within 24 hours of picking the olives will be processed and pressed into olive oil using olive oil presses specially imported from Italy.

OLIOMIO 50kg.

In 1996 after a trip to a Trade Fair in Bologna Italy, Colin made arrangements to ship the first Oliomio into New Zealand. This machine was a prototype of its kind. The machine has a hammer mill which crushes the olives as they enter the machine. Then the paste is kneaded for one hour before being separated centrifugally. This machine has been invaluable in pioneering olive oil processing on Waiheke, and in proving that the Waiheke can produce excellent olive oil.

PEGASO 500kg.

In 2002, with the volumes of olives for processing increasing dramatically, Rangihoua Estate purchased a new olive oil press, capable of processing 500kg of olives per hour. The Pegaso works on the same principle as the oliomio with centrifugal separation. The Pegaso has been engineered by a very old Italian firm in Florence, Officine Meccaniche Toscane, who have been making olive processing equipment for over a century. The Pegaso is designed to the highest specifications and Rangihoua is proud to be associated with this company and delighted with the Pegaso performance.

The Legend Of Rangihoua

New Zealand is believed to have been settled by the Maori people way back in the 1200s, and many place names in New Zealand are named after significant events in history. The name Rangihoua means ‘The Day of Renewal’ and is the name of the land where the main Olive Grove of 1000 trees is planted and where the Frantoio tasting room is situated. Approximately 600 years ago the Maori canoe called ‘Te Arawa’ landed at the coastal inlet below the Rangihoua mountain for rest and repairs at the end of her migratory voyage. Here she was relashed, hence the name ‘the day of renewal’ before the canoe carried on in its voyage to the Coramandel Peninsula.

About Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island is a small island situated in the Hauraki Gulf of the coast of Auckland. Waiheke is 93.2 square kilometres in area and has 128 km of coastline. It is a relatively undeveloped Island, with only 7000 fulltime residents which is now a popular tourist destination.

Waiheke has been described as a little Mediterranean jewel nestled in the Hauraki Gulf, 19 km from Auckland City. Surprisingly it is on average two or three degrees warmer than Auckland, and has about 30% less rainfall. These factors make it perfect for the olives and grapes alike. With its own micro-climate it has a long hot dry summer essential for ripening the olives.