Hand picking

At Estoublon, the only harvesting method used is hand picking. The picking team harvests the olives using combs which they pass through the branches to dislodge the fruit , which falls into a net placed around the tree. The net protects the fruit from any damage caused by contact with the ground. Once sorted, with the leaves and twigs removed, the olives are taken to the mill in slated crates.

The Vallée des Baux de Provence AOP (Protected Designation of Origin) status requires oil pressers to press olives within three days of harvest so that the fermentation process does not begin. But the owners of Château d'Estoublon have chosen to exceed the AOP requirements and to reduce this processing time to 24 hours. The health of the fruit is the best guarantee of olive oil quality.

Lying between the vineyards and the scrubland, the olive groves of the Château d'Estoublon cover more than 48 hectares classified as belonging to the Vallée des Baux de Provence Appellation d'Origine Protégée (Protected Designation of Origin). Estoublon is one of the few estates in the Alpilles region to have chosen to replant its olive trees after the big freeze of 1956. It is an estate whose history is inextricably linked to the history of olive growing in Provence.

Grossane, Salonenque, Béruguette, Picholine, Bouteillan: five varietals make up the "assemblage" or blend and contribute to the distinctive aromas and flavours of the olive oils produced at Château d’Estoublon. The fruit are harvested when ripe, but just like wines, New Olive Oils mature over time. When harvesting begins, they must have a fair degree of sharpness, so that the taste can then stabilise over the next few months. The strong character of a "young" oil is essential for the maturity of a constantly-evolving oil. The aromas and colours of individual oils can change from one year to the next, and even from one plot to the next, depending on climatic factors (irrigation, exposure to the sun, etc.).

So even within a single variety, the oils produced at Château d’Estoublon can present differences depending on when the fruit is harvested: always magnificent and produced with the greatest care as we strive for perfection, they reflect the natural world and the centuries-old secrets of the olive tree.

Beyond AOP

Pure fruit juice

Placed on a conveyor belt, washed and separated from their leaves, the olives are crushed in a mill which transforms the pulp and pits into a thick paste. Afterwards, the paste is pressed in a worm gear unit. The oil is then left to flow out gradually for about half an hour. Lastly, it only remains for the juice from the press to be put into a centrifuge which separates the oil and water from plant matter. The whole operation takes no more than an hour.

Château d'Estoublon extra virgin olive oil is a pure first cold pressed fruit juice. No chemical products or refining processes are used in its production; it is the only oil that can make this boast.

But the "first cold pressed" label has become somewhat devoid of meaning with respect to oil quality because all mills are equipped with presses powerful enough to extract all the oil from the paste at the first press. Instead, there are other more subtle determiners of extra virgin olive oil quality.

This is why Château d'Estoublon has chosen to enforce an extremely strict set of specifications allowing the olive grower to monitor the quality of the product at every stage in the process, from orchard to bottle. Still cloudy, the fresh oil is immediately taken to the Château d'Estoublon cellars where it will remain for several months in airtight tanks.

Sealed tanks

Bottling at the Château

Olive oil is a delicate product which is sensitive to heat and light. When stored wrongly, it can very quickly lose its fresh aromas.

For these good reasons, the owners of Estoublon have opted to personally supervise decantation operations, during which the olive oil is allowed to clarify naturally and become perfectly clear. The oil is also bottled at the Château as orders come in.

The philosophy behind our oils.
Natural aromas make magnificent oils.
At the last harvest in 2010, the Château d'Estoublon New Oils were filtered to eliminate any particles which might have remained in suspension or settled at the bottom of the standard or luxury bottles. This touch of sophistication helps us to produce crystal-clear oils, in line with buyers' requirements, as we strive for a truly top-end product.

It is worth highlighting that Château d'Estoublon olive oils are 100% natural: no aromas are added. Their unparalleled flavours are very much gifts of nature and reflect all the distinctive characteristics of olives from the Vallée des Baux. You can find them:

• in the five Single-Varietal Extra Virgin Oils produced by Château d'Estoublon: the sharp Picholine, the luxuriously smooth and mild Grossane, the extraordinary fresh almond and young hazelnut flavours of Béruguette, the fresh Salonenque and the powerful Bouteillan, with its fresh herb and green banana notes.
• in the Vallée des Baux de Provence AOP Oil from Château d’Estoublon: a unique, green fruity oil which harnesses all the flavours from this romantic palette, thanks to the know-how and secrets employed in the vatting process.
• in Cuvée HO from Château d’Estoublon: an AOP oil made exclusively from fruit from the Estate's centuries-old olive trees.

Exceptional new oils from an estate where Passion means Perfection.

AOP oils: Appellation d’Origine Protégée (Protected Designation of Origin). This European label replaces the French AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) label.