Connoisseurs know the many factors involved
in harvesting and producing cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil of the
highest quality: a good location for cultivation, a special type of olive,
professional pruning of the trees, correct pressing methods, optimised
storage and careful filling to preserve the true flavour.
These factors are decisive, not only for measurable qualities such as acidity,
peroxide value and refraction in UV light but above all for what pleases the
senses - special flavours and aromas with all their nuances.
We owe the secret of our quality to the unique combination of certain local conditions:
the intense sunshine, the low rainfall and a rocky mountain soil which lies at
close proximity to the sea. These factors produce a
distinct type of olive which yields what is recognisably one of the best
oils in the world.
The Mani olive harvest
begins towards the end of each year. With hard manual labour, our valuable fruits
are hand-picked, sorted, and then immediately taken to be cold-pressed in the
traditional stone mills of the Mani. It is always a magic moment when the first
gold-green oil flows from the olive press.
At the mills, the perfume of young olive oil is as evocative as freshly-cut grass
and the olive growers talk in subdued voices as they wait for the moment of truth.
Rough chunks of bread are broken from loaves, dipped into the fresh gold-green
oil and, in absolute silence, the first critical taste of the year’s harvest
is evaluated. Heads nod in appreciation and faces break into beaming smiles as
they approve the result of their long labours: another good year! And after this
the celebrations...
|
 |
The golden moment |
