The first and most important quality decision in olive oil production is choosing the right harvest window. The harvesting starts in mid-October when olives are still green. At this precise ripening stage, polyphenol concentration is at its peak, acidity is at its lowest, and the oil has an intense green-fruity aroma that defines genuine early-harvest extra virgin olive oil. Usually, mechanical shakers are used, and only olive fruits collected under an umbrella are accepted for processing.

The interval between harvest and milling is one of the most critical variables in extra virgin olive oil production. Fermentation begins as soon as an olive leaves the tree. Every moment counts. Delay degrades polyphenols, increases free acidity, and diminishes the sensory profile.

To prevent those quality compromises, the harvested olives are transported to the estate-owned mill within 2 hours. No long hauls or overnight storage.

At the mill, olives undergo deleafing, washing, weighing, and crushing before entering a modern continuous three-stage centrifugal extraction system designed to minimize oxidative exposure at each stage.

As the industry standard, cold extraction is performed at temperatures below 27 °C.

At KORAJE, the extraction temperature is maintained below 21 °C, notably below the industry cold-extraction standard. This maximizes retention of oleocanthal, oleacein, and the full polyphenol and aromatic profile that defines a genuinely high polyphenol cold-extracted extra virgin olive oil.

The oil is filtered after extraction to remove residual water and fine olive particles. Filtration is necessary to avoid post-extraction hydrolytic rancidity and other quality degradation, facilitating the shelf-life of extra virgin olive oil. The filtered oil is immediately transferred into decanters and then into stainless steel storage tanks in a dark, temperature-controlled facility maintained strictly below 18 °C.

In the storage tank, oil is blanketed with nitrogen headspace to protect the oil from oxidative degradation. Engineering control is used to eliminate three enemies of extra virgin olive oil quality: light, heat, and oxygen.

Bottling takes place in the same controlled environment. At KORAJE, we only use dark glass bottles with a tamper-proof pourer and a metal cap. Every bottle is filled, sealed, and labelled with full traceability information: harvest date, variety, best before date, estate origin, bottle serial number, PDO certification, and quality data.

No anonymous sourcing. No blended origins. Nothing hidden.