A BOUTIQUE olive-growing operation on the Mornington Peninsula is leading the industry in innovation and oil production.

Paringa Ridge, located at Red Hill and owned and operated by Jill and Julian Barson, was awarded Olive Grove of the Year by The Olive Centre late last year.

Mr and Mrs Barson, who divide their time between a home in Toorak and the Red Hill property, said they were motivated to produce a world-class product and share their knowledge about olive oil.

"What this award indicates is that people are recognising we are doing the right thing," Mrs Barson said.

"We think it is very important for Australians to know what they are buying and have access to the highest quality products and that is what really inspires us to continually improve and develop."

The Olive Centre managing director Amanda Bailey, said the Paringa Ridge grove stood out for the Barsons' attention to detail, which paid off in significant production per tree and a high-quality product.

The couple has been at the forefront of innovative techniques, including inserting antibiotics into the trunks of trees to fight disease, monitoring the calcium requirements of trees and using low-risk loosening agents.

The first of the 1100 olive trees were planted at the Paringa Ridge grove in May 2003.

Managed by Ashley Andrews, the grove's 780 bearing trees now produce 23.5 tonnes of piqual, arbequina, leccino and frantoio olives annually, which make about 3000 litres of oil per year.

The premium piqual oil is blended - occasionally with koroneiki oil from another grower on the peninsula - and sold as extra virgin olive oil under the Leontyna label, named after Mr Barson's late mother.

The rest of the oil is sold in bulk to restaurants or to other growers who bottle it under their own labels. Mrs Barson said the 2010 harvest had produced a soft-tasting oil due to the extremely wet conditions that preceded picking.

"We have had a fabulously green-flavoured oil with hints of green apples, green tomatoes and green grass with quite a strong pepper at the end and a few flavours in between," she said.

"We hope to copy that (this) year, but it depends what nature gives us - (2010) has been a truly golden year for us."