Olive oil tasting

It won't be harvest time when you are in Greece but there are some good oil presses that do visitor tours & tasting sessions.

Some of the best oil comes from the Kolymbari/ Kissamos region of Crete. There are 2 oil mills that I know, fairly close to each other that would make a great day out & great contrast:
- Terra Creta - a state-of-the-art modern olive oil factory, they do a very interesting tour, discussion of their quality rather than quantity ethos & guided taste comparisons.
- Biolea, not far geographically, in a picture perfect setting, it's a small family run organic oil press, using a modernised version of the ancient stone pressing system. They do a delicious lemon flavoured oil for salads.
- Near to both of these is Vouves, with the oldest (or 2nd oldest, depending on who you talk to!) olive tree in the world. there is a small interesting farming museum alongside this registered monumental tree.

For wine, the Cretan vineyards are rapidly increasing in interest & quality, a couple of beautiful vineyards in Western Crete to visit are Manousakis &Dourakis.

All 4 tours of these places need to be pre-booked.

We continue to buy Cretan olive oil, the absolute best.

Ray, what islands are you visiting? My favorite olive oil comes from the island of Lesvos. They produce really good ouzo there too.

Will be visiting Kotor,Corfu,Olympia,Gythion,Monemvasia,
Santorina,Patmos,Mykonos and. Athens