One grove Milled the same day Picked by hand Product of Greece
Who we are
Nikolaos and Diana
Nikolaos Semertzakis grew up here. His grandfather Niko planted most of the
trees and worked them his whole life.
Diana Dabija came from the Republic of Moldova. Two countries, one
grove: Nikolaos has the trees and the harvest, Diana has the bottling, the
analyses and everything that leaves the farm. Pruning starts in January.
Harvest is November, and for those weeks nothing else happens.
The oil has been judged away from home too, and carries medals from Berlin
and Athens.
No employees, no bought in fruit. What you pour came off these trees this
season.
The grove is on the Zakros plateau in Sitia, inside the UNESCO Sitia
Geopark. Nights stay cool at that height, so the fruit ripens slowly. The
soil is thin and stony. Yield per tree is low.
We leave it that way. Slow ripening fruit is what gives the oil its
polyphenols and its pepper.
Zakros, Sitia, Lasithi
From tree to bottle
How it is made
Picked by hand
From early November, tree by tree. Nothing is shaken or raked, so the fruit is not bruised.
Milled the same day
The morning’s pick is at the mill by afternoon. Acidity rises with every hour in between.
Pressed cold
Below 27 °C. Heat raises the yield and drives off the aromatics.
Sealed dark
Into tinted glass and tins the same day. Light ages oil faster than time does.
My grandfather never sold a bottle with his name on it. He planted the trees
anyway.
Nikolaos Semertzakis
Category
Extra virgin olive oil
Variety
Koroneiki, 100%
Origin
Zakros, Sitia, Crete
Altitude
230 m
Harvest
November, by hand
Extraction
Cold, below 27 °C, same day
Free acidity
0.5%
Storage
Cool, dark, sealed
Questions
What people ask
What does acidity 0.5% mean?
Free acidity measures how far the oil has broken down. Extra virgin is
allowed up to 0.8%. Ours is 0.5%. That comes from hand picked fruit milled
the same day instead of sitting in crates for a week.
Where do you ship?
Across the European Union and most of the rest of Europe. Every order
leaves from the grove at Zakros in Crete. Shipping and the delivery
estimate for your basket are shown at checkout, before you confirm
anything.
How should I store it?
Cool, dark, sealed. Heat and light age oil faster than time does, so keep
it off the shelf above the hob. Use it within about eighteen months. Decant
a tin into a smaller bottle for daily use.
What is Koroneiki?
The Cretan olive. Small fruit, low yield, high in polyphenols. It is why
the oil tastes of green almond and cut grass, with a pepper at the back of
the throat.
Do you sell wholesale?
Yes, to restaurants and shops across the EU. Tell us roughly what volume
you need and where you are.
Get in touch
Write to us
Nikolaos and Diana answer their own email. Usually within a day, longer
through the November harvest.
