Detlev Von Rosen, One of Portugal’s Most Celebrated Producers, Dies

Detlev Von Rosen, who pro­duced one of the world’s best olive oils on his farm in Algarve, Portugal, has died. He was 80 years old.

Von Rosen fled Germany with his fam­ily from Estonia to Sweden when the Russian army invaded, accord­ing to a neigh­bor, Arthur van Amerongen. In the late six­ties, Von Rosen moved to Algarve, the south­ern­most region of con­ti­nen­tal Portugal, where he started a nurs­ery before pro­duc­ing olive oil.

Oleologist Nicholas Coleman, who vis­ited Von Rosen recently said in his newslet­ter that Von Rosen began with oranges but became dis­mayed by the amount of water nec­es­sary for the crop.

Three Monterosa olive oils have been awarded at every New York International Olive Oil Competition since the event began in 2013, includ­ing the cov­eted Best in Class Award in 2014 for the Macanilha de Tavira.

Van Amerongen said in a blog post that Von Rosen was rumored to have taken his own life. ​“I am sur­prised because he always made a very cheer­ful and lively impres­sion on me,” Van Amerongen wrote.

“I’ve got a few Monterosa olive oil bot­tles,” Van Amerongen said, ​“but I yank them open only on very spe­cial occa­sions. Then the guests can taste a few drops and I put the bot­tles back behind bars. After all, not all days are a feast.”