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Our family takes attention to every step on the olive oil production from the way we grow our trees in the hills of Spata, Attica, in Greece to the cold extraction, making a Gourmet Quality extra virgin olive oil.

We prepare with great care the olive oil we produce.

Cultivation

The olive trees in our orchards trace back to four generations.

Our olive trees grow in the hills and lowlands of Spata-Attica in the Mediterranean climate of Greece.

The trees are not irrigated, not fertilized and grow in a non-intensive fashion. They are carefully pruned every March and ploughed twice a year to allow nutrients exchange between soil layers in a very natural way of keeping the trees fit without the use of fertilizers.

Even though these criteria fulfil what is nowadays called organic farming, we just follow the traditional way those trees have been treated by generations in our family.

Those non-forceful methods result in fewer olives produced per area, less olive oil extracted per kg of crushed olives and, an outstanding flavour.

The olives and the olive oil that come from those dry, unfertilised, non-forceful conditions have complete special characteristics.

Olives have more flavour, produce a fully bodied, full of aroma olive oil, a genuine Greek liquid gold.

The Olive Connoisseur olive oil products bring to you all this care in every harvest.

Collection

End of October/ beginning of November
It is time for olive collection!

Olive tree branches are hanging down with the weight of their offer.

Olives have reached maximum growth but are still green and this is how we want them.

At this stage olives have less oil per kg but the oil extracted have more flavour and keep their organoleptic and vitamin contents properties for longer.

The ancient Greeks use to collect olives for olive oil at this green stage only for special occasions. They gave the name agourélaio to differentiate from the olive oil extracted from mature olives.

For our family they were right, this is the time for collection. We actively participate in all steps of collection.

Collection is manual with combs, a 3000 years tradition. This way olives and olive trees are not damaged. Olives are then immediate transported for extraction using cold processes.

Oil extraction

After one day of exhaustive collection, olives go for extraction.

Olives of only one varietal are used at a time.

When they get to the crushing factory, they are washed, leafs are blown off, they are weighted and go for crushing when a pulp is formed.

A mix of crushed olive pulp and warm water is then moved in spirals. The water used for this step is specially set for us in the factory. The water temperature never exceeds 35°C, this way less oil is extracted, however vitamin contents are minimally affected. After 30 min the water-pulp mixture goes to the centrifuge. The oil centrifugate then runs from the pipes to the stainless steel containers when the extraction finishes.

The new olive oil is ready to be enjoyed!

Sampling the warm liquid gold straight from the centrifuge is an unforgettable experience!

A few drops of freshly extracted olive oil gives you a tickling sensation at the tip of the tongue, a warmth, fruitful, flavoured bouquet that fills up the whole mouth and invade your senses.

Storage

We keep our olive oil in stainless steel containers in our cellars without light at 25°C and bottle it according to demand.

Our surplus production is shared with Gourmet friends. Bottling is carried out using a vacuum filler without manual contact.

Sharing

The Olive Connoisseur produce is shared with Gourmet friends only.

Terms

The Olive Connoisseur Gourmet Quality olive oil is extra virgin olive oil with less than 0.2% acidity.

The Olive Connoisseur olive oil is extracted by physical from unripe olives to keep beneficial compound and flavours at their most.

In fact, the olive oil extracted by us consistently results in oils with less than 0.2% absolutely in the range of extra virgin olive oil allowed acidity. This is due mainly to the care we take in manual collecting olives without harming and not allowing time for fermentation, extracting oil in the same day olives are collected.

The process we use for olive oil extraction is only by mechanical means of washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration in controlled thermal conditions. Olive oil is extracted without any chemical alteration.

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For your reference we include here information on other ways of extracting oil from olives and their designations. These designations may vary from country to country.

Olive oil suitable for human consumption:

Designation - Free acidity (expressed as oleic acid) - Characteristics

Extra virgin olive oil - <0.8g/ 100g or 0.8%- Extraction process uses only mechanical means of washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration in controlled thermal conditions.

Virgin olive oil - <2g/ 100g or 2%- Extraction process uses only mechanical means of washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration in controlled thermal conditions.

Ordinary virgin olive oil - <3.3g/ 100g or 3.3%- This designation may only be sold direct to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale. If not permitted, the designation of this product shall comply with the legal provisions of the country concerned.

Olive oil - <1g/ 100g or 1%- A blend of refined olive oil and virgin olive oil can still be called olive oil. The country of retail sale may require a more specific designation.

Olive oil not suitable for human consumption:

Designation - Free acidity (expressed as oleic acid) - Characteristics

Lampante virgin olive oil - >3.3g/ 100g - Olive oil intended for refining or for technical use. Organoleptic characteristics and other characteristics of which correspond to those fixed for this category in this standard.

Refined olive oil - <0.3g/ 100g - Olive oil obtained from virgin olive oils by refining chemical methods, which do not lead to alterations in the initial glyceridic structure. This designation may only be sold direct to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale.

Olive-pomace oil - <0.3g/ 100g - Oil obtained by treating olive pomace with solvents or other physical treatments, to the exclusion of oils obtained by re esterification processes and of any mixture with oils of other kinds. It is marketed as crude olive-pomace oil, refined olive pomace oil and olive pomace oil. This product may only be sold direct to the consumer if permitted in the country of retail sale. The country of retail sale may require more specific designations for these oils.