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CRETAN OLIVE OIL
CRETAN OLIVE OIL
Cretan olive oil
The prized gold of Mediterranean cuisine
Where can you find the best olive oil in the world? We firmly believe it's on the island of Crete.
Cretan olive oil is known worldwide for its high quality, unique flavour and numerous health benefits. In the olive oil you can almost sense the olive oil tradition of thousands of years in Crete, and the sunrays warming the hilly landscape. For many, Cretan olive oil is the authentic and best olive oil for cooking, with a rich flavour to top off a salad or a hot meal.
Good Cretan olive oil is the sum of many parts, so let's delve a little deeper.
Cretan olive oil
Where do taste and quality come from?
The quality of Cretan olive oil is due not only to the ideal conditions on the island, but also to the Cretans' ambition to produce quality olive oil.
Coroneiki olive variety
The Coroneiki olive, grown on the island of Crete, is also highly appreciated worldwide. This small olive variety produces a particularly tasty, nuanced and aromatic olive oil with a hint of freshly cut grass.
Memmas Knossos extra virgin olive oil also gets its delicious flavour from the coroni olives. Our high quality extra virgin olive oil is never mixed with oil pressed from other varieties or produced elsewhere.
Method of production
Olive growing in Crete dates back thousands of years - studies suggest olive growing as early as 2500 BC. Today, olive groves cover a significant part of the island of Crete, and olive growing provides an important livelihood for many islanders.
Cretan olive oil producers typically buy olives from local smallholders, and press them in olive oil mills shortly after picking. This means that the olives are fresh when they are pressed and do not have time to oxidise during transport and storage.
The extra virgin olive oil is always pressed using fully mechanical methods, without heat or chemicals, so its nutritional value is top-notch - it is rich in vitamins and antioxidants. And taste!
Favourable climate and soil
The Cretan climate is ideal for olive oil production - the sun, warmth and gentle sea breezes provide a unique growing environment for olive trees. Temperatures do not drop very low, even during the winter months, which saves the olive trees from cold damage.
The mineral-rich soil of Crete is also favourable for olive growing, which means that no heavy fertilisers are needed.
Cretan olive oil – The finest of the fines
The best olive oil can be experienced through multiple senses; you can see, smell and taste the high quality. The characteristics of quality olive oil from Crete include.
Exceptional taste profile
The taste of Cretan extra virgin olive oil has hints of fresh grass and rich fruitiness. Fresh extra virgin olive oil also has a hint of peppery kick.
A greenish colour that exudes freshness
Harvested and bottled from the new crop, this high quality olive oil has a hint of greenish colour. The green colour of olive oil reflects the freshness of the oil and is a sign of its high chlorophyll and antioxidant content, which in turn have beneficial health effects.
Low acidity
Cretan olive oil is known for its low acidity, which signals its freshness and high quality. About 90 % of the olive oil produced on the island of Crete is extra virgin olive oil of the highest quality..
Responsible olive oil production - From picking to bottling
It is important to us that Memmas Knossos olive oils are produced with respect for nature and responsibility. Our olive oils are produced using carefully selected methods to ensure that the process does not harm birds or wildlife at any stage of production.
Cornerstones of the picking process
Gentle picking.
Olive harvesting on the farm is carried out both by hand and using small hand rakes and electric-powered sticks that do not contain MOSH or MOAH, which are harmful to health. The ripe olives are also picked using equipment that gently vibrates the trees, allowing the olives to come off naturally and fall into the nets under the trees. These picking methods are gentle on both the olives and the trees, and ensure that the picking does not endanger the fauna of the area.
No vacuum cleaners - no danger to birds.
We never use suction equipment to extract our olive oils, as such methods endanger the welfare of the birds. Animal welfare is also carefully taken into account during hand-picking, and olives are not collected in the immediate vicinity of potential nests.
Memmas Knossos olive oils are both a quality and a responsible choice. Holistically responsible olive oil production is built on these values.
- Environmentally friendly olive growing and production
- Safe, legal and fair working conditions for workers
- Respecting biodiversity
Memmas Knossos
our extra virgin olive oil
the secret of quality
The quality of Memmas Knossos extra virgin olive oil is based not only on the hand-picked and premium quality coroneiki olives, but also on the uncompromising manufacturing process.
Production is handled by our long-standing Cretan partner, a family business with a unique commitment to producing top-quality olive oil - responsibly, respecting the life's work of previous generations and cherishing the Cretan cultural heritage.
This results in a highly sophisticated process where the oil is cold pressed and bottled fresh and hygienic, and each olive oil batch is carefully examined in a laboratory.
Memmas Knossos extra virgin olive oil clearly meets the requirements of the extra virgin quality classification, with an acid balance well below 0.8 %. Our cold-pressed olive oil has also been shown to be rich in polyphenols, which have been shown to positive health effects.