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A few kilometres from the Palace of Knossos, in the agricultural heart of the Heraklion prefecture, a family-run certified organic olive estate operates one of the few private mills in Crete — pressing its own 2,000 Koroneiki trees on-site using traditional first cold-pressed, gravity-fed methods that have not substantially changed since the Minoans first extracted oil from these same hillsides.
The guided visit (1 to 1.5 hours) opens with an outdoor introduction to organic olive farming among the trees, before moving inside for a detailed explanation of the production process — from hand-picking and sorting to cold extraction and bottling. The tasting session that follows is structured and genuinely educational: three extra virgin olive oils of different profiles, one flavoured oil, Cretan olives, sweet vinegar and petimezi (grape syrup). Fresh bread and local produce accompany the tasting. The estate also carries a boutique selection of artisanal products — herbs, artichokes, vinegars and fruit syrups — for purchase.
For groups visiting during the harvest season (November through January), the live pressing experience — watching the mill in full operation, from freshly picked fruit to the first flow of oil — is something no off-season visit can replicate.
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