My family’s relationship with the olive tree and the olive fields dates back almost a century ago, when my great-grandfather Menelaos Papagrigoriou and his son, my grandfather Stylianos, were operating their olive mill in Choustouliana, Heraklion, Crete. Back then, olive oil mills were called “Fabbricas”, which means factories and it’s a word that was bequeathed to us Cretans by the Venetians. It’s still used today and integrated as part of the Cretan dialect.
My family continued the tradition across generations, without forgetting its link with the olive tree. For my family, the olive fruit is not just a fruit that provides us with olive oil. For us, the olive fruit and the olive oil is our memories, our way of life and the way that we matured. In the Gortynion Elaion Bottle that you hold in your hands, you will read “Cretan Tradition, today”. Know that we mean it.
Stylianos Papagrigoriou