- Main variety
- Koroneiki
- Look for
- PDO labels, harvest date
- Taste for
- Fruit, bitterness, pepper
- Season
- Harvest roughly November–January
How to taste
Pour a spoonful into a small cup, cover it with your hand and warm it for a minute. Smell for green fruit, cut grass, tomato or artichoke. Take a small sip, draw air through your teeth to spread it, and swallow. A sharp pepperiness is a sign of fresh, polyphenol-rich oil, not a fault.
Rancid, musty or wine-like smells are defects.
What makes Cretan oil
Most Cretan oil comes from the small Koroneiki olive, which gives intense, fruity oil. Several areas have protected designations, including Sitia in Lasithi, Kolymvari and Apokoronas in Chania, and Peza, Archanes, Viannos and Messara in Heraklion.
Booking a tasting
Producers and tasting rooms across the island run guided sessions, often paired with bread, cheese and olives. Some wineries, such as Lyrarakis, add an oil tasting to wine visits.
Buying
Look for a recent harvest date and a dark bottle or tin. Store oil away from light and heat.
Questions before you go
Why does good olive oil taste peppery?
Pepperiness comes from polyphenols, a sign of fresh, high-quality oil.
What olive is used in Crete?
Mostly Koroneiki.
When is the olive harvest in Crete?
Roughly November to January.
