In Spain, where most producers harvest by beating olives from the trees with sticks, the Nunez de Prado family uses a more delicate technique. Each season, skilled crews from Seville arrive at the family's four groves around Baena, in the Cordoba province. Planning strategically, they select trees with olives that just turned from deep purple to black, where the fruit is ripe and firm. Olives that have fallen from the tree are not used. The skilled hand-harvesting of the olives protects thme from brusing, which can trigger acidity, and also protects the trees. Furthermore, pesticides and chemical fertilizers are not used at any time.

At the end of each morning and afternoon picking, the olives are trucked to the mill and pressed immediately. The antique mill, was acquired in 1795 from a local duke who had a monopoly in the region. It sits on a busy street in town, behind a simple arched gateway wide enough for trucks. In 1989 the old press was retrofitted and began production of small amounts of this remarkable oil.