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EVGE and Ancient tradition
25 km from the groves of EVGE is Nestor's Palace, the Mycenaean Bronze Age site where 3200 year-old olive oil jars were found. It is said that Nestor's youngest daughter, Polykaste, bathed Telemachos, son of Odysseus when he came searching for his father. Homer describes her anointing him with oil: 'bathing him first, then rubbing him with oil. She held fine cloths and a cloak to put around him when he came godlike from the bathing place'. Health benefits: Here is an article with many links to studies on the myriad benefits to health and well being of using Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) |
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Why region is important:
EVGE Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), USDA certified organic EVOO and Kalamata olives are produced in the exceptional region for growing olives--Kalamata (Messinia). The groves are 1100 feet above sea level and just 12 km from the sea, bringing the olives beneficial sea breezes and enhancing flavor. The trees are on slopes, which is important because they drink just as much rain water as needed and not too much, which decreases quality and flavor.
Harvest:
For EVOO, olives are gathered in autumn when they are just beginning to ripen by using a "tree tickling machine" which causes them to fall onto a canvas laid beneath the trees. Then, they are hand picked and put into crates (so that they can breath and are not crushed as they would be in burlap bags) and taken immediately to a cool storage area at the press.
Why cold pressed is important:
Within 3 days of picking, they are cold pressed at temperatures not exceeding 25C or 77F. This is important because high temperature processing, while producing 3 times more oil, raises acidity and destroys the many nutritional properties of EVOO, such as polyphenols and other health-protective antioxidants.
Why low acidity is important:
Acidity is considered one of the most important properties of quality in olive oil, although one rarely sees it listed on bottles due to the fact that big olive oil producers have lobbied to keep it off labels. The lower, the better for retaining nutritional benefits and for an olive oil to have the label Extra Virgin, it must by law, have an acidity of no higher than 0.8%. Every year EVGE has its EVOO tested for oleic acidity and it has never exceeded 0.3%, which is one of the lowest one can find and indicative of EVGE's extraordinary quality.
EVGE Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), USDA certified organic EVOO and Kalamata olives are produced in the exceptional region for growing olives--Kalamata (Messinia). The groves are 1100 feet above sea level and just 12 km from the sea, bringing the olives beneficial sea breezes and enhancing flavor. The trees are on slopes, which is important because they drink just as much rain water as needed and not too much, which decreases quality and flavor.
Harvest:
For EVOO, olives are gathered in autumn when they are just beginning to ripen by using a "tree tickling machine" which causes them to fall onto a canvas laid beneath the trees. Then, they are hand picked and put into crates (so that they can breath and are not crushed as they would be in burlap bags) and taken immediately to a cool storage area at the press.
Why cold pressed is important:
Within 3 days of picking, they are cold pressed at temperatures not exceeding 25C or 77F. This is important because high temperature processing, while producing 3 times more oil, raises acidity and destroys the many nutritional properties of EVOO, such as polyphenols and other health-protective antioxidants.
Why low acidity is important:
Acidity is considered one of the most important properties of quality in olive oil, although one rarely sees it listed on bottles due to the fact that big olive oil producers have lobbied to keep it off labels. The lower, the better for retaining nutritional benefits and for an olive oil to have the label Extra Virgin, it must by law, have an acidity of no higher than 0.8%. Every year EVGE has its EVOO tested for oleic acidity and it has never exceeded 0.3%, which is one of the lowest one can find and indicative of EVGE's extraordinary quality.
