Cold off the press
This is the second year we've brought Mani extra virgin olive oil directly from Greece. The fruity green oil is cold pressed from the Koroneaki olives in a traditional stone mill in the Mani peninsula in the southern Peloponnese.
Just before Christmas we visited Fritz and Burgi Blauel in Mani to see the harvest and the production. The drive from Athens via Epidavrous and the neo-classical city of Nafplio is spectacular, rugged hilly countryside, stupendous views.
It's the citrus fruit season so the trees are laden with oranges, mandarins, grapefruit and satsumas. Occasionally we see a shepherd watching over his herd of sheep or goats. The milk will be used to make cheese or thick unctuous yoghurt, to sell, or sometimes kept for their own use.
The Mani peninsula has some of the most dramatic scenery in the Mediterranean, stunning coastline, sleepy fishing villages and olive groves as far as the eye can see. As we climbed up the hill towards the village of Pyrgos Lefktrou we could see terracotta tiled roofs of houses emerging out of a sea of olives trees with the Ionian Sea in the background.
We passed many of the farms who grow olives for the Mani Olive Oil company. The visionary behind this company, Fritz Blauel, grew up in his family's restaurant in Vienna. Almost 30 years ago, he came to Kalamata to meditate and commune with nature. He was drawn towards an alternative life style, and so became part of a commune.
Gradually, his companions left but Fritz stayed on as a Buddhist. He grew vegetables and worked with the local farmers and picked olives to survive. He soon realised that the quality of the olive oil made from the local Koroneaki olives was superb the local farmers just produced in a haphazard way.
He was convinced that this oil was exceptional and that there could be a market for it, as well as the more famous Kalamata olives. The challenge was to get the farmers to cooperate and to trust him.
Now, over 300 farmers grow olives for Mani. Fritz employs a full time agronomist to help and advise the farmers, convincing them of the importance of picking at optimum ripeness. Mani oil has won top prizes and is now exported to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, UK and Ireland.
Fritz and his wife Burgi have saved an entire community's livelihood by working with the farmers. They were pioneers in their field and now other communities in Crete have followed their example.
