Comprehensive management of our olive groves is the practical verification of our love for the nature that hosts us!
Our Groves
Cultivation
Adhering to the principles of environmental preservation and least possible interference, we know and nurture our plants ena ena, monitor their flowering and witness their fruition throughout the year. We faithfully follow protocols and apply principles of environmentally friendly methods throughout the entirety of the annual biological cycle.
Our olive groves are covered by a great variety of wild herbaceous plants and bushes that keep the soil fertile, moisturized and protected.
We carry out routine soil and leaf chemical analyses to estimate our plants’ special nutrient requirements and prevent diseases or infestations.
At spring, bee hives are placed in strategic spots within the groves to increase cross pollination between species and enrichen the fields with a plethora of plant life.
Our Trees
Pruning
During the year, we prune after carefully examining our olive trees and adjust according to their individual needs with regards to shade, ventilation, fruition and leafing.
Pruning helps us in different ways: It prolongs the productive life of the tree and enhances growth by removing sickly branches and focusing on prolific ones, it facilitates the harvest by shaping the tree and managing its height, and it makes the tree more resilient to disease and infestations by improving air circulation among the branches and exposing them to more sunlight.
Olive Trees
Harvest
All the care we offer to our olive trees throughout the year culminates in their harvest.
The harvest begins in late October and is completed by middle of December, depending on the climatic conditions of each year and the ripeness of the fruit.
The olives which are collected early when they are still green and unripe create our exceptional green harvest, “agoureleo” or “oleo nuovo”, bitter extra virgin olive oils, whereas those collected late in the season make our more balanced, milder and softer in taste extra virgin olive oils.
Our Olives
Gathering
The olives are collected carefully by hand, so as not to bruise them and downgrade the quality of the olive oil, using ladders to reach the upper branches of the tree and hand-held mechanical harvest aids, which are dragged over the branches, causing them to fall onto large nets that are placed under it.
At the same time that olives are collected, the olive tree is trimmed, as required. After the olives have been collected and sorted out ena ena, they are placed into plastic ventilated crates and quickly transported to the oil mill for pressing.
Olive Oils
Production
Within 12 hours of harvesting, olives are transferred to the oil mill for same-day processing. Our extra virgin olive oils are “cold-pressed”, meaning they are extracted in low temperatures, ensuring they retain all the beneficial properties and antioxidants that are found in abundance only in extra virgin olive oil.
Oil extraction starts with the separation of the olives from the leaves, by washing them with clean water. After that, olives are crushed and placed to a freshly washed mixer for only 40 minutes, in a temperature of no more than 23ᵒC. The produced paste from mixing then enters the centrifugal decanter, in which the oil, water, and solids are separated and olive oil is extracted. It is then immediately placed in stainless steel tanks, with automatically controlled storage temperature of 16ᵒC.
Premium
Packaging
Before our extra virgin olive oils are bottled, they are filtered to remove any natural sediment that occurs during the product’s settling period in the tanks. All our extra virgin olive oils are bottled within weeks of harvesting.
During bottling and packaging, we apply ISO procedures and strict safety measures at all stages of the process, according to national and international standards, which guarantee that superior quality is maintained throughout their life cycle.
Our extra virgin olive oils are packaged and sealed in dark-shaded or painted bottles, in order to protect them from the harmful effects of light and oxygen and keep their distinct aromas, unique flavors and beneficial properties unaltered.