An essence of time and dedication
Menelaos olive oil products
Pure and rare – and only with us
Menelaos olive oil is an extra virgin olive oil with flavours ranging from velvety and fruity to spicy, with a slight bitterness and spiciness typical of oils with a high polyphenol content. The olives come exclusively from our own groves.
We only produce about 1000 to 1500 liters per year. The oil is not available in retail stores and can only be purchased directly from us
Organic in its purest form
Strict sustainability in cultivation and processing
Our olive oil is grown according to strict sustainability criteria: we only use organic fertilizers and pest control methods. We exercise the utmost care at all stages of production.
philosophy
The core of our philosophy is to always operate with the utmost respect for the landscape and nature around us. In this spirit, we strive to produce organic olive oil of the highest quality, which is not only pure pleasure, but also a source of health.
Unconventional and natural
For us, in addition to the strictly organic production of the oil, it is just as important that we protect the natural flora and fauna with our careful cultivation. For example, we harvest by hand, which is particularly important for the protection of birds and insects. This also protects the olive trees themselves and the olives harvested in this way. A high polyphenol content, important for the health-promoting properties of the oil, is another welcome effect of harvesting by hand.
Harvesting directly from the tree is a lot of work, but it guarantees that only the best fruit is picked and reduces the use of machinery. Processing takes place without the use of heat and using only mechanical processes. This preserves valuable ingredients (e.g. high polyphenol content) and the typical taste of the Koroneiki olive. The pressed fruit is then processed into heating briquettes and heating oil, so that absolutely everything from the harvest is used and no waste is produced.
Quality and purity instead of quantity
With our gentle methods, we consciously avoid quantity. Organic cultivation of Koroneiki olives leads to a reduction in the harvest quantity of up to 50% compared to conventional cultivation. In addition, we do not use industrially produced chemicals, which makes pest control much more difficult. This can also lead to a further reduction in the harvest quantity.
Location
Our olive trees grow on an old seaside plot opposite the picturesque Saronic island of Hydra, in the far east of the Peloponnese. Apart from the small coastal villages nearby, our groves are far away from major roads and cities that could affect water and air quality. Here it is rural quiet and life follows the ancient rhythm of cultivation and harvest.
The Argolis region is one of the most productive growing areas in Greece with a high proportion of premium extra virgin olive oil, mostly made from single-variety Koroneiki olives. For this reason, the region enjoys a wealth of experience in the production of olive oil of the highest quality and an infrastructure that has grown over generations. Olive oils of this class, like good wines, also have a strict certification of origin, which is called PDO: Protected Designation of Origin. Menelaos oil has the PDO Krandidi, Argolis.
We
We are Katja, born in Greece, and Rainer, born in Germany, and we have three children together. We are both successful entrepreneurs in Germany, but for many years we have spent as much time as possible in Greece, which is much more than just a second home to us.
As a Greek-German family, we bought Villa Asterias with its more than 3 hectares of olive groves from a family of traditional olive farmers. Friends told us that the Koroneiki olives on our property were the best oil olives in Greece, maybe even in the world, and that we definitely had to produce oil. So we developed Menelaos olive oil - a little unsure at first, but then with more and more enthusiasm.
We now grow organic Koroneiki olives of a single variety with our almost 1000 trees. We harvest early and by hand, with a high proportion of olives still green, extract cold and then filter immediately. The harvest and oil production is a great experience for our family every year. The end result is our Menelaos olive oil: a natural, sensual and healthy delight; a precious product born from an ancient Greek tradition. Incidentally, our oldest tree is over a thousand years old.
Our olive: The Koroneiki
A traditional variety that produces the best oils through careful development.
We can tell you a lot about "our" Koroneiki. But the most important thing is that this widespread and traditional variety is one of the few with a very high polyphenol content. If you treat it as well as we do, you will be rewarded with one of the finest olive oils in the world: our Menelaos oil.
The Koroneiki is typical of the steep slopes of the Greek peninsula of Peloponnese. It is probably named after its place of origin, the village of Koroni, located a little further south on the peninsula. It produces an excellent oil with low acidity. However, it is not a moody exotic that needs to be pampered with all kinds of aids.
olive oil
The olive tree is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world. In Greece, the olive tree has been systematically cultivated for more than 4,000 years and can live for several hundred years.
Olive oil is considered the healthiest cooking oil of all, but has the smallest production volume of all cooking oils worldwide. For comparison: around 65 million tons of palm oil are produced annually, but only around 3 million tons of olive oil. Olive oil is known for its health-promoting properties. This is due to the high proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids, which help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, for example. Koroneiki olive oil is particularly beneficial to health due to its high polyphenol content. This substance, polyphenol, also ensures that the oil can be stored for a long time without damage.
Characteristics
The Koroneiki is quite robust and can withstand heat, but also frost down to -7°C. However, the variety is not suitable for the artificial irrigation methods used in large industrial plantations, as the trees do not like standing in water. It also has to be heavily pruned every year, which we always do with great care and patience. The Koroneiki is an olive that needs a lot of manual work to fully develop its best qualities. However, it then rewards us richly with its exquisite fragrance and complex taste.
Koroneiki provides around 85% of the Cretan yields, but is also grown on Zakynthos, in Messinia and here in Argolis.
The taste
The exquisite, strong, slightly bitter, peppery and enormously nuanced taste of our Menelaos oil results on the one hand from the use of our own Koroneiki olives, and on the other hand from our production, which is geared towards the highest quality: organic cultivation, early harvesting by hand of the mostly still green fruits with a smaller proportion of already dark olives, and daily cold extraction.
Menelaos is an absolute top-quality oil in gourmet quality because we pay attention to even the smallest details: the shortest possible storage time after harvest, cleanliness of the production facilities to remove residues from older batches, minimal oxygen exposure during processing and filtering as quickly as possible after extraction. Our oil is particularly suitable for fine salads and as a subtle seasoning addition or base for exquisite dishes.
Healthy
A few thousand years of everyday experience testify to the health-promoting properties of olive oil. Cold-pressed olive oil was already considered a remedy in ancient times, for example against all kinds of external skin diseases or internal inflammation. It was also ranked right next to donkey milk as a beauty product. But we want to take a sober, scientific look at the matter here...
Why is olive oil actually so healthy?
It is mainly the polyphenols, natural antioxidants, that make olive oil so healthy. Olive oil contains various polyphenols, but in particular oleocanthal. Oleocanthal, which was only discovered in 2005, is responsible for the bitter taste of the oil, but is said to have various health-promoting effects. It has an anti-inflammatory effect, comparable to that of drugs such as ibuprofen, appears to have mechanisms of action against certain cancer cells (particularly malignant skin melanoma) and is also associated with the prevention of Alzheimer's.
Consumption of olive oil prolongs life
A leading nutritionist at Harvard University has shown in a study that replacing 10 grams of margarine, butter, mayonnaise or milk fat with the same amount of extra virgin olive oil every day is associated with an 8 to 34 percent lower risk of overall and cause-specific mortality.*
Since 2011, the Health Claims Regulation of the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) has pointed out that regular and sufficient consumption of olive oil polyphenols helps protect blood lipids from oxidative stress.
The right olive, the right extraction
However, the polyphenol content varies greatly depending on the type of olive. Although you can obtain extra virgin olive oil from all types of olive, only a very few varieties - for example our Koroneiki olive - produce an oil with a very high polyphenol content.
If the end product, i.e. olive oil, contains a low proportion of free fatty acids, this indicates that it was harvested and extracted gently. An extra virgin olive oil may contain a maximum of 0.8% free fatty acids. The fatty acid content of Menelaos olive oil is usually 0.4% or less.
* Marta Guasch-Ferre, senior research scientist, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health https://de.oliveoiltimes.com/health-news/replacing-saturated-fats-with-olive-oil-saves-lives-harvard/103884
