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At the olive mill

Twice a day during the harvest, our team brings the olives to the « Moulin du Haut Jasson » for crushing, an essential step in the transformation of the olive fruits into oil. This initial stage is done by Olivier Roux, who has been our moulinier for the last 15 years.

He places the olives in a washing machine to get rid of any dust, stone or other residual matter. The olives are crushed and mixed by cold-pressing to ensure no oxidisation occurs. The optimal temperature for this is 22°C. The pulp is moved into a ‘decanter’, a mechanical device which separates the oil from the paste. A juice composed of olive oil and water is recovered from this paste, and it is this extracted oil, that comes closest to the finished product.

The decanted juice is put through a centrifuge, which separates the oil and water, and captures the remaining solids through its centrifugal force. Our team bring the l’or jaune, or ‘yellow gold’ olive oil, back to the Léoube estate to make the final blends that go into our much loved premium extra virgin olive oil.