December: Fresh from the press

Are we all sitting? We are doing a kind of informal olive oil tasting - it’s fresh from the olive mill.

You’ve got to smell it. It smells lovely doesn’t it!

It's peppery!

Oh, that's good. Gorgeous. That's proper. That's proper, that. Yeah. Oh my God. (laughs) Yeah. Oh, gorgeous.

Pass me some down, please!

Mm-hmm. It's really good. (laughs) It's really good. Really fresh. Yum.

It tastes like spring.

Yeah, exactly. It tastes like spring.

Your olive oil is amazing – tell us a bit about how you produce it.

This year we had a discovery and it wasn't a discovery just by chance. It was a discovery because we were looking for it.

Last year, we gave our olive oil to the University of Peloponnese in Kalamata to do a taste test – it’s called an organoleptic test. There are 12 people on the panel and they taste the oil and give a rating on all the taste elements – how much bitter, fruity and spicy. After they sent us the results they invited us into the lab and they said, "Look, it's okay. It's good, clean, but it's average, your olive oil." We're talking about the flavour now, the aromas.

So I got very disappointed. Really heartbroken. And I said, "Tell me what I need to do to go to this level, to the excellent level." And they said, "First of all, 50% of the result depends on the olive mill”, 50%! "As a producer you need to keep all your equipment clean and bring the fruits to the mill in the best possible condition, but the second very important role is played by the olive mill”.

So I did a whole year of research on where to go, which olive mill to use. I was asking everyone I could – which mills do they recommend, what method does each mill use? What’s the strategy? What equipment? Because it's not only about finding the best olive mill, but it also needs to be practical. It needs to be close enough to the olive grove so we can transport tons of olives as quickly as possible. That's a very important factor also.

So what is it about the mill then that makes the difference?

It's in the process of the mill. It's the time, how clean their machines are. They need to clean them constantly and they don't all do it. The water, the running water, it needs to be cleaned. Also, the way they crush the fruit is a very, very important factor, which depends on the types of machines they have – how many repetitions of the crushing they have, how much heat is generated, how much pressure goes in the mashing. It really matters.

And of course, it's subjective. It matters most of all to me. I want to like the olive oil I'm producing. That's the most important thing that I need in my life. (laughs). And to have a good experience with the people at the olive mill.

So – back to how we found this olive mill, which is in Kremmidia, a village close to Pylos. This year I met Nikos. He is a chemist who is also the founder of the Kalamata Olive Oil School and teaches the art of olive oil tasting. He has a huge knowledge and I really trust his advice. He recommended this olive mill which also happens to be close to our olive grove. We went there with him and met Sarados, the owner, and tried some of the olive oil they produce. We had a great experience and decided to try out his mill this year.

When we tried our olive oil when it first came out of the press, I was shocked by how flavorful it is. And what memories it brings me, like a trip back to my childhood when my pure palette was trying the fresh harvest. It was a pure excitement. The next day Nikos, the chemist, tried it and he said, "Your olive oil is excellent!" and we were so happy to have achieved our goal.

Did you change stuff in the production as well?

We've started by buying our own hessian sacks to be sure that they were clean. We also made sure that the team who were harvesting avoided standing on the olives as much as possible and that the olives were pressed within 24 hours of being picked. Every detail matters. Because let's not forget that the olive oil comes from the olive which is a fruit. And we want it to go to the mill unripe and with the least damage possible.

Yes. Minimise trauma. Yeah, exactly. It's so true though, isn't it?