Efkrato Cretan olive oil

Olivaverde is very pleased to have recently tasted this really outstanding extra virgin olive oil from the the north of the beautiful Island of Crete which was supplied to us by Emmanuel Vantarakis and Andreas Venakis.

This organic extra virgin olive oil is produced from the ancient Cretan Tsounati variety of olive, which produces an organic olive oil with a rich blend of flavours and aromas, the oil is also high in phenols. The use of organic farming methods, the early harvest and of course the climate and unique features of the Cretan landscape, all contribute to a very special and unique olive oil. .

The Efkrato organic extra virgin olive oil has a strong character and also the specific pungency that always equates to early harvest olive oils, there is also present a slight bitterness and a rich spiciness.

This lovely olive oil is produced at the family’s small olive groves in northern Crete and the aim is always to reproduce the characteristics that the oil has had over the years it has been made by the family.

The olive trees are carefully looked after and fertilised with manure from local animals such as sheep and horses, this also allows for a substantial reduction in the release of the green house gas, carbon dioxide.

The olives are also harvested well before they mature and this gives us the very special early harvest organic extra virgin olive oil which is much higher in quality than most normal olive oils produced from olives which are only picked when mature.

All the olives are hand picked from the trees and the olives are all taken to the mill and processed within a few hours of being picked from the trees, and the oil is then filtered once milling and extraction of the oil has finished.

This superb organic extra virgin olive oil is currently sold by the family in Greece, France Switzerland and the USA.