Activity Review: Crete Olive Oil and Wine tour
On every travel blog or Cretan travel research site, I found that we HAD to try Cretan wine as the wine is some of the best in Greece and the world. Because it is the largest Greek island, Crete has different soil types and climates allowing the island to produce great varietals of white and red wine.
Initially, we wanted to spend a day in the vineyards outside Heraklion. This region has the majority of vineyards on the island. However, all the tour operators were closed for the season so we “settled” for a wine and olive tour from China. Outside Chania, there are still very popular vineyards! On this tour, we chose GS Tours Olive Oil and Wine Tour.
Anoskeli Olive Oil & Wine
For our first stop of the day, we journeyed to the famous Anoskei olive oil and wine shop. Due to COVID, we weren’t able to get a tour of the facilities or vineyard, but I think that enabled us to focus more on the olive oil and wine!
Cretan Vineyard
Cretan Wine
While their winery was not at the forefront of their business, they believe in producing quality wines from their region. Over time, their winery has begun picking up international awards and we were quite happy with our tasting!
Here is what we tasted:
- Anoferia White: Pairs Seafood and smells pears and white pepper. It is okay - we enjoyed it.
- Ano Playa White dry wine: 3 local varieties. Pairs with white meat. Full of floral and apples. We liked this one!
- Ano Playa Dry rose wine: Pairs well with everything. It is a light rose and full of strawberry and cherry.
- Anoferia Syrah: Made in steel tanks and should be drunk after 30-40min in fridge at around 17C. Wine is ruby colours, strawberry, cherry, vanilla, pairs well with dark chocolate. We enjoyed this one!
- Ano Playa Full body red: Aged 2 year and consists of 3 varietals. Pairs with meats and should be served at 18C. Wine is full of tannins, pepper, strawberry, cherry, sundry tomato, and leather and oaky, drink after 3 years. We enjoyed this one! Then again, we like most deep reds!
- Anoferia semi-sweet dessert wine: Tastes like cherry and vanilla. Pairs well with snacks that are not as sweet. We enjoyed it, but we haven’t enough dessert wine that we need to drink!
Overall, we enjoyed this olive oil farm and winery! The family run winery was perfect for our introduction into Cretan wine, plus the wine was quite nice!
Olive Oil
As the tour implies, we also came here to taste Cretan olive oil - rumored to be the best in the world (yes, even better than Italy!). While every region/country believes their olive oil is the best, Crete has won many awards and ships their more inferior oil to other countries to be in their “premium” labels. After hearing this, we are happy that we tend to buy from local family producers rather than the big companies! In Crete, they produce over 4% of the world’s olive oil alone. Yes, one tiny island in the Mediterranean!
Fun facts of oil include that extra virgin is .3% acidity while virgin and bio-organic is typically .8% acidity. The hostess told us one key piece of advice when buying olive oil in the grocery store. To buy good extra virgin olive oil, check for three factors: cold pressed, acidity is less than .8%, any product requirement designations (i.e. Crete sign off).
Oldest Olive Oil Tree
For a stop between places and to possibly give us time to sober up, we stopped at the world’s oldest olive oil tree! While just a tree, the base is huge and can fit a human being! Obviously, I had to test out this theory and it is true!
Nearby is an entire olive oil museum dedicated to the ancient and now modern ways of olive oil making. From grinding the olives on stone to more modern presses, the museum shows it all. Our guide somehow convinced MF to give it a try and she somehow managed to move the giant grinder!
Manousakis Winery
For our last stop, we visited famous Manuosakis winery about 20 minutes outside of Chania. World renown for their wine, this vineyard is a must visit if in Chania! Not only is it located in a beautiful village, the vineyard has a great courtyard to either have a nice lunch or taste their great wines!
For this tasting, we tried the following of their great wines:
- Asseryiko: Grape is from Santorini. Tastes more aromatic than Santorini since there is not a volcano on Crete. We enjoyed it, although we also liked the Asseryiko.
- 100% Roussanne: Aged 8 months in oak, this white wine is a little more full. Tastes of more vanilla. However, this white wine is not our favorite…
- Nostos Pink: Made with 3 local varietials, it is a classic rose. It has a fruity taste, but not as much as expected. It is a very nice wine!
- MRS: Compared to other reds, this is light and fruity. We enjoyed this one!
Compared to Anoskeli, Manousakis felt a little bit more refined. Then again, Manousakis is an older winery and it solely focuses on wine. We definitely enjoyed all the wines, although the reds from then Anoskeli were our favorite.
The UnChartered Summary
While we could not try the highest rated wine region in Crete, the Chania region is excellent! Moreover, the olive oil is fantastic!
- Between these two places, each have their strong points. Anoskeli is very family owned and operated and had terrific olive oil and olives (and we hate olives!). While the wine is also as nice at Anoskeli, Manousakis is much more refined and has more vintages.
- Cretan olive oil, olives, food, and wine is of the highest quality. We want to return!
- Not mentioned in the tour is the food tour we were given of everything Crete produces! Essentially, every fruit and vegetable is produced on the island. Our guide produces most of his fruit and vegetables! Everything is very much farm to table - which we love!