The Olive Tree Journey
A journey through time
Every place has a story. Ours began long before us.
Long before Monte das Louzeiras had a name, this land was already telling stories.
Stories written into the trunks of olive trees, into the dry earth of the Alentejo and into the hands of generations who cultivated it.
For centuries, people here lived with the rhythm of the seasons. They planted, harvested, shared food, made wine and pressed olives into the golden oil that became part of everyday life.
Some trees survived generations.
Some landscapes barely changed.
And some traditions were passed from one pair of hands to the next.
Monte das Louzeiras would become another chapter in that story.
But to understand where we are today, we have to travel back much further.
Our journey begins with the olive tree.
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A STORY thousands of years old
The Olive Tree — Rooted in History
Long before borders, brands or modern agriculture, the olive tree was already part of Mediterranean life.
Its story reaches back thousands of years to the eastern Mediterranean. As people travelled, traded and settled along the coast, the cultivated olive moved westwards with them. Phoenician traders helped carry this knowledge across the Mediterranean, while the Romans later expanded olive cultivation throughout the Iberian Peninsula.
In Portugal, the tree found a landscape where it could endure.
Sun, poor soils, long dry summers and generations of human care created a culture in which the olive tree became far more than an agricultural crop.
It became food.
It became light.
It became medicine and care.
It became wealth.
And above all, it became a symbol of endurance.
Some olive trees standing in Portugal today have lived through kingdoms, wars and countless generations — and still bear fruit.
To understand the Alentejo, you have to understand the olive tree.
GUARDIANS OF TIME
The Ancient Olive Trees of Monte das Louzeiras
Some of the olive trees at Monte das Louzeiras have stood here for more than four centuries.
Their trunks carry the marks of time. Their roots reach deep into the dry earth of the Alentejo, while their branches return, season after season, to light, wind and fruit.
They have witnessed generations come and go.
Years of abundance. Years of hardship. Summers of heat. Winters of rain.
And still, they remain.
In our park, these trees are more than part of the landscape. They are quiet guardians of memory — living witnesses to the story of this place.
Here, the past does not disappear. It keeps growing.
SHAPED BY THE LAND
A Landscape We Call Home
Monte das Louzeiras lies at the edge of the Serra de Adiça, near Vale de Vargo, in the concelho of Serpa.
Around us, olive trees follow the folds of the hills, tracing lines across the red earth beneath the long Alentejo sun.
For generations, this landscape has been shaped by the same elements — dry soils, light, wind, patience and the hands of those who worked the land.
It is a landscape we wake up to, work within and watch change with every season.
And yet, beneath those changes, something remains.
For us, the story of the olive tree is also the story of home.
A STORY PASSED THROUGH GENERATIONS
From Hand to Hand
For centuries, the olive harvest was shaped by hand.
People moved from tree to tree, gathering the fruit slowly, season after season, learning from the land and from those who came before them.
Knowledge was not written down. It was carried in gestures, in habits, in the rhythm of work.
When to harvest. How to treat the tree. How to read the weather. How to recognise the right moment.
Each generation received something from the one before — and added its own experience.
What one generation learned from the land, the next carried forward.
LIQUID GOLD
More Than Olive Oil
For centuries, olive oil has been one of the quiet treasures of Mediterranean life.
It nourished families, lit homes, cared for the body and became part of rituals, remedies and daily routines.
In the Alentejo, it was never simply a product.
It was the result of patience, season, labour and land — gathered from the tree, pressed from the fruit and shared at the table.
A simple drop carried the taste of a place, the work of many hands and the memory of generations.
Perhaps that is why olive oil has always been more than oil.
ONE DROP. ALL HISTORY.
The Beginning of Gota
When we began producing our own olive oil, we wanted to create more than a bottle.
We wanted to capture the story behind it — the land, the olive tree, the people and the history that had shaped this region for centuries.
That idea became Gota.
The drop became the central symbol of the brand, while the label drew inspiration from the historic architecture of Serpa — connecting the product directly to the place it came from.
Gota was never meant to be only olive oil.
It was conceived as a way of carrying a piece of this landscape, its culture and its memory beyond the Alentejo.
One drop. All history.
A STORY IN MOTION
The Gota Film
To tell the story of Gota, we wanted to go beyond words and labels.
The film became a journey through the olive grove — through movement, landscape, harvest and memory.
A dancer moves among the trees, gathers the fruit by hand and follows the rhythm of the land.
The images connect past and present: the ancient olive tree, the human hand, the landscape of the Alentejo and the transformation of the fruit into something precious.
It was our way of giving the story a voice without explaining too much.
A journey through time, told through movement, light and the olive tree.
FROM SERPA TO THE WORLD
Gota Travels Beyond the Alentejo
What began in Serpa soon travelled far beyond the Alentejo.
Gota was presented at fairs, exhibitions and events in cities across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America.
From Lisbon, Paris and Cologne to Zurich, Dubai, Riyadh, Shanghai, Tokyo, Macao and Brazil, the bottle carried more than olive oil.
It carried the image of Serpa, the landscape of the Alentejo and the story behind every drop.
For us, these journeys were never only about presenting a product.
They were about sharing where it came from.
From a small place in the Alentejo, one drop travelled a very long way.
A NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE
From Gota to ML
As the story of our olive oil evolved, so did its visual identity.
With ML, we wanted to create a design that felt lighter, more contemporary and more refined — while remaining deeply connected to Monte das Louzeiras and the Alentejo.
As the story of our olive oil evolved, its appearance began to change with it. With ML, we wanted to create something lighter and more contemporary, without losing the memory of where it came from.
The pattern on the bottles was inspired by traditional Portuguese azulejos — a visual language that had already become part of how we presented ourselves at fairs and exhibitions. Between the fine lines and ornaments, small golden dots appeared. They were olives — a quiet detail connecting the design back to the fruit, the land and the beginning of the story.
The result was a bottle that carried Portugal in its pattern, the olive tree in its details and Monte das Louzeiras in its identity. In 2017, ML Olive Oil Extra Virgin received the iF Design Award for packaging.
A new chapter in design — still rooted in the same land.
A SYMBOL OF RENEWAL
From ML to the Peacock
The ML design remained with us until after the pandemic. Then came a new chapter — one shaped by change, hardship and renewal.
After the pandemic, and after a period marked by many transformations, I decided to continue with the peacock design. For us, the peacock became a symbol of permanence and renewal. Guests from all over the world come to Monte das Louzeiras and are often enchanted by the peacocks and by the sense of oasis they find here.
The peacock stands for enduring beauty, pride and dignity. It reflects something of what this place has lived through. We fell deeply, but we rose again. We brushed away the dust and the ashes, and opened our wings — and our arms — to what was new.
With this new symbol, Monte das Louzeiras became more than a brand identity. It became a sign of resilience, hospitality and transformation.
From the ashes, a new chapter opened its wings.
FROM THE TREE TO THE SKIN
A Ritual of Care
Olive oil has always been more than food. For generations, it has also been used to nourish and care for the skin — valued for its richness, softness and natural protective qualities.
That tradition became part of our own story. At Monte das Louzeiras, olive oil also found its way into our cosmetic products, including skin care and after-sun care inspired by the intense light and long summers of the Alentejo.
One fruit. Many ways of caring.
ROOTS FOR THE FUTURE
Adopt an Olive Tree
Some of the oldest olive trees at Monte das Louzeiras have been part of this landscape for centuries.
They have survived drought, heat, storms and generations of change. Today, preserving these trees has become part of our responsibility for the future.
The idea of the olive tree adoption was born from a simple thought: if these trees have carried history for so long, perhaps their future can also be shared.
By adopting an olive tree, guests become connected to a living part of Monte das Louzeiras. Not symbolically alone, but through a tree that continues to grow, bear fruit and remain part of the landscape.
It is a way of protecting the old olive grove while creating a personal bond between people and this place.
To adopt a tree is to become part of its story — and to help carry that story forward.
THE STORY CONTINUES
Rooted in the Past. Growing into the Future.
The story of the olive tree at Monte das Louzeiras began long before us — shaped by time, weather and the quiet persistence of the land.
Our role is not to own that story, but to care for it, protect it and carry it forward.
Through the grove, our creations and the people who become part of this place, that story continues to grow.
Some stories are written in books. Others keep growing.