Family estate in Greece follows ancient growing practices to produce organic oil with exceptional polyphenol count

GUELPH – Kamarianakis Estates won a gold, two silver and three bronze medals for its Artemis Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Family Reserve 2009 Harvest) and Twisted Pit Flavoured Olive Oils at the prestigious Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2009 Competition.

The elite competition, judged by a panel of the world’s foremost olive oil connoisseurs, was the first competition for Kamarianakis Estates. It marked the first year of production for Twisted Pit and the second year of commercial release for Artemis. The results were announced at a gala event on June 20.

“It is a huge honour to win six medals for Artemis and Twisted Pit in Los Angeles,” says Chris Kamarianakis, an entrepreneur based in Guelph, Ontario, who owns and operates the estate with his brother Tim. “It is extremely gratifying for us as it truly recognizes our commitment to excellence and our dedication to every aspect of our craft. It further establishes us as one of the elite olive oil producers in the world.”

Kamarianakis Estates is located on a small mountain plateau on the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece.

“As young children, Tim and I joined our dad and mum to plant 1,000 olive saplings on this beautiful piece of land, which was gifted to our family by the local monastery,” recalls Chris. “We would never have imagined that almost a half-century later our family grove would be producing one of the world’s finest olive oils.”

To produce Artemis, the estate grows the rare Patrinia olive varietal, which has languished under modern farming techniques and was almost extinct. Drawing upon his expertise as an archaeologist, Tim discovered more than 60 ancient cultivation practices that he now uses when tending the olive, which is thriving under his care. All growing and harvesting techniques used on the estate strictly adhere to organic, biodynamic and sustainable agriculture principles.

“Our unique approach enables us to restore this varietal to its former glory and, in doing so, to achieve remarkably low levels of acidity and unparalleled polyphenol content,” Tim says. Polyphenol levels reflect the nutritional value of an olive oil. Most extra-virgin olive oils contain about 70 to 90 ppm. The 2009 Artemis harvest reached 290 ppm.

To produce Twisted Pit, Kamarianakis Estates uses a single-grove, dual-varietal extravirgin olive oil that is farmed organically using Tim’s methodology. Many of the herbs and spices used to flavour the oil are gathered from the mountains surrounding the estate.

Chris says that as his family olive grove flourishes, it is at the forefront of “a new movement in Greece that seeks to preserve and celebrate the land and restore our ancestors’ farming methods, which have been perfected over hundreds of generations reaching back over 3,000 years.”

Artemis Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the four varieties of Twisted Pit flavoured olive oil are available at a growing number of specialty food retailers across North America and in Europe.