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Crete, the largest island of Greece. A crossroad of commerce and civilisations. A land touched by the Aegean Sea. A pure place, surrounded with natural beauty and breathtaking landscape with a temperate Mediterranean climate and eternal sunshine.
Being blessed with the modern climate and fertile lands, Crete is ideal for the growing of olives.
Five thousand years ago, the people of Crete were the first in Europe to tame the olive tree. They turned the wild olive trees into trees that can be cultivated.
The Cretan olive oil is produced in olive groves nurtured by the Sun and Sea.
It is cultivated in groves that are owned by the local families who know each tree and with great love and care they pick each olive with their own hands.
For the people of Crete, nature is part of their roots, as they call them. Each year during winter, the people in the villages get together to gather the olives.
The making of olive oil is a family affair, a reason to come together. It is tradition that passes on from generation to generation. The values are deeply rooted in each family member they have grown with them just like the olive groves cover up to two thirds of the cultivated land of the island, the olives are the symbol of Crete.
They are an inextricable part of life. Its history goes back into the centuries.
The use of olive oil in the Cretan diet can be traced back into the past, as far back as the linear scripts, A and B of the Minoan civilization. It has been documented that the Minoan people have been using olive oil ever since 2000 BC.
The olive is the symbol of peace; the prize of the ancient Greek Olympic champions, the Olympic laurel is a leaf of an olive branch.
Even today, the harvest of the olives is considered a ritual and it is carried out in a traditional way. The olives are struck the long sticks and fall on large pieces of cloth, then they're collected one by one by hand.
This traditional method guarantees the best quality of the fruit and the longevity of the tree.
The selection is made very carefully so that only the best quality olives are placed into the sacks.
But the day is not over as the selected olives now need to be taken to the local mill for pressing.
For centuries now olive oil has been the base of the Cretan diet.
Olive oil - the liquid gold according to Homer - is a miraculous source of nutrients.
When the gathering of the fruits is completed, it is essential that the olives are taken to the mill on the same day to produce the freshest oil. There, the olives are crushed and the olive oil is extracted.
In the past, granite wheels were used in order to press the olives. Today, the presses used are made out of stainless steel.
First, the olives are separated from their leaves and washed. Afterwards, they are crushed into a pulp which is then homogenized in large mixer. And finally, through the process of centrifugal separation, the olive oil is extracted.
From the mill, the fresh oil is taken to the bottling factory. There, it is stored in stainless steel tanks under the optimal conditions where it is allowed to settle for at least one month. Before oil is to be bottled, it must first go through a mechanical filtering process, to be cleared from any remaining moisture and plant matter.
During the entire process, the temperature is kept below 60°F/16°C to maintain the integrity of the oil.
The filtered oil is now ready for the bottling line. First, the empty bottles are inspected and cleared for the clean air blast, then the bottle Is vacuum filled with the oil and closed with a pilfer proof top.
Next, an overcap is placed on the bottle and the labels are applied.
A thorough final inspection carried out before the bottles are cased and ready for shipment. The Cretan diet is proved to be one of the healthiest diets in the world which is attributed to its wide use of olive oil.
An irreplaceable ingredient that makes our salads and all types of food unique and fill with exceptional taste and nutrition.
Olive oil helps pump up the human body.
It assists it in producing and storing energy and, most of all, as if from the fountain of youth, it is thought to decelerate the body's aging.
The people of Crete have a good heart and not just in a metaphorical way. They have one of the lowest rates of cardiovascular disease in the world attributed to their high consumption of olive oil.
Cretan olive oil is light and tasty with a unique aroma.
It is the perfume of nature of the fields of chamomile and the Cretan herbs that harmoniously blend with the scent of olives. It is the way that the olives collected. It is the place blessed.
It is the people who care for their trees and they're in touch with the land who still preserve and follow the tradition and wisdom passed on from their ancestors. The welcoming of the new harvest is their reward, a celebration for the olive.