Yıldız Olive Mill

Family mill since 1974 · Aegean coast

Olive oil pressed the same day the olives are picked.

Our groves sit on the dry limestone hills inland from İzmir. Three generations of the Yıldız family have pressed Memecik and Ayvalık olives here, in small batches, for neighbours and a handful of shops along the coast.

This season's oils

Erken Hasat — early harvest

Picked green in late October. Grassy, peppery, with a bitter finish that softens after a few weeks in the bottle.

Limited · 500 ml tins

Memecik — main harvest

Our everyday oil. Round, fruity and mild enough for salads, bread and slow-cooked vegetables.

Available all year

Olive oil soap

Made in winter from the last pressing, cured on wooden racks for eight weeks. Unscented, nothing added.

Bars of 120 g

How we press

  1. Olives are hand-picked onto nets and brought to the mill in open crates the same afternoon.
  2. Leaves are blown off, the fruit is washed in cold water and crushed into paste.
  3. The paste is mixed slowly below 27 °C, then the oil is separated in a two-phase decanter.
  4. Oil rests for a month in steel tanks and is bottled unfiltered, by hand, as orders come in.
"My grandfather pressed with stone wheels and mats. The machines changed; the hours between the tree and the press did not." — Selin Yıldız

Visits and tastings

During the harvest, from late October to December, we open the mill for small groups on Saturday mornings. You can watch a pressing, walk the nearest grove and taste the new oil with warm bread. Outside the season the mill is closed to visitors while we prune and care for the trees.