This Autumn will see the launch of French organic extra-virgin olive oil Querubi’s first annual Harvest Retreat Weekend from 9 – 11 October giving guests a rare insight into life on the land at a working olive farm. Guests will spend three days with the team, harvesting olives, sharing long lunches by the trees, tasting oil and exploring the rich cultural landscape of surrounding French Catalonia. The Harvest Retreat marks the beginning of an annual celebration of the most anticipated season of the year for Querubi, bringing together food, farming and hospitality in the depths of the Pyrenean countryside.
Attendees will stay at Domaine Madrona, Querubi’s restored 13th-century Catalan farmhouse close by to the groves. Restored with much of the original stone and wood, and filled with colourful interiors and local antiques, Madrona is a house designed for coming together, be it around the long farmhouse table, by the pool or out on the platform in the middle of the mediterranean forests. Meals will be prepared over the weekend using the best of local produce from neighbouring suppliers and markets, with each feast accompanied by lashings of Querubi.
Querubi owner Willem and estate manager Holly will be leading the harvest alongside the farm team to pick olives before gathering for a rustic lunch among the trees. Holly will teach the art of olive oil tasting with a session, and Willem will share his 20 years of farming expertise with conversations exploring the principles of chemical-free regenerative farming, and speaking on the many challenges – and rewards – of working with nature, rather than against it.
Keepers of the Land for 20 Years
Querubi’s story began more than 20 years ago when Willem Voorvaart bought a neglected piece of land in the foothills of the Eastern Pyrenees, with a vision to restore the soil through regenerative farming. Inspired by Japanese farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution, Willem planted the estate’s first olive trees in 2008. Today, Querubi is home to 12,000 organically cultivated trees which produce small quantities of exceptionally low- acidity and high polyphenol extra virgin olive oil. The farming philosophy that supports Querubi olive oil is centred around the conviction that only thriving soil can feed healthy trees that produce exceptional fruit and exceptional fruit yields exceptional olive oil. In this philosophy the farmer is the keeper of the land, focussing on soil health, biodiversity and working in harmony with nature. Retreat attendees will immerse themselves in this philosophy during their time on the farm.
The First Taste of the Harvest
The retreat marks the beginning of Querubi’s 2026 harvest story. Following the weekend, guests will be invited to reunite in London in November for the launch of the 2026 harvest oil, tasting and bringing home a bottle of the finished oil they helped to harvest just weeks earlier. The event will bring together voices in food, agriculture, wine and hospitality to continue both the celebration of this year’s bounty, and continue meaningful conversations around farming, provenance, and the growing appreciation for exceptional chemical-free olive oil, and what it takes to make it.
While extra virgin olive oil has been enjoying a cultural revival in recent times, Querubi isn’t interested in being part of a trend, but rather about doing the right thing and sticking by it: finding ways to work with the land, provide employment for locals, and redistribute gentle tourism to France’s least economically prosperous region. By launching their first harvest retreat this year they’re creating a way for people to learn about regenerative farming and experience their way of life first-hand at a time when humans are craving connection to nature more than ever.
