The Governor's Olive Mill - Corfu Olive Tour — Attraction in Municipality of Southern Corfu

A rare and unforgettable experience. My wife and I believe that health begins with what we eat. When we're travelling, we are always on the lookout for local producers of natural products that are unique, not only for their nutritional properties, but also for their environmentally sustainable practices. A friend in Corfu told us that The Governor is known as one of the bestolive oils in the world because of its unusually high level of the health-promoting antioxidant, hydroxytyrosol.

So, we dropped by the mill without warning and were warmly received by the Dafnis brothers, George and Spyros. George spent almost two hours giving us a tour of the factory, explaining how they make their olive oil and why it is different from the ones we typically find elsewhere, even in most expensive fine food markets in London. The second half of the presentation was devoted to a delightful tasting of the olive oil (with cheese, bread and even some ice cream!) wherein we discovered first-hand the difference their process makes to produce a pleasantly distinctive taste and texture.

The Dafnis brothers are the fifth generation in their family to produce olive oil and their familiarity with and passion for the subject is clearly ancestral. They both studied at the world's only olive oil institute, The UC Davis Olive Center in California, and what they have accomplished with their knowledge is remarkable. They have preserved their olive-making heritage, all while adopting new methods based in science and the result is an award-winning olive oil of incomparable quality.

Their family olive grove is in a protected zone with trees aged over 500 years old and their production methods are environmentally friendly, producing almost zero waste.

George and Spyros are very welcoming and kind, passionate about olive oil and eager to share their knowledge. It was one of our most rewarding gastronomic experiences to date and we highly recommend it to you if you are in Corfu.

George and Spyros, thank you again! You deserve all of the success in the world, and please do not...

It was a feast for the senses as my wife and I closed our honeymoon with a trip here, travelling on bus B8 through small mountain lanes to reach this small town on the West of Corfu. The guide who is cousins with the owners welcomed us cheerfully and in very clear English took the group of 6 of us through the history of olives in Corfu and then to the small museum on site that showed how olive oil was created in Victorian times. Then we moved across to the modern production facility, and she explained how the oil is now extracted and created, she outlined the health benefits of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We were then led to a room at the back and enjoyed a short film on the importance of olive oil to Greek culture (focused on Crete), and then we tasted the 2 types of Olive oil they make, firstly drinking, then there were three different food combos that paired with the olive oil. We then enjoyed a glass (or 2...) or Corfu red wine, and socialised as a group. After this we had the chance to try other products in the shop and buy some items (local drinks and olive oil based products), we bought 3 bottles of olive oil and they gave us a small bottle of a local liquor as a gift. They arranged for a taxi for us back to Corfu old town (the bus would have been quite late) and then gave us coffee, water and snacks whilst we waited. At €15 each this is unbelievably good value, and so far as I can tell the olive oil (€20 and €25) is a small fraction of the cost in the shop that it was online...

If you have the pleasure of visiting Corfu, you cannot miss this amazing experience :) I HIGHLY recommend The Governor's Olive Mill Olive Tour!! My husband and I signed up for the 4 hour tour and we were SO happy that we chose to do the longer visit. It was very worth the extra time we spent at the olive mill with such wonderful people and we learned so much about the olive oil itself. The tasting was delicious and we brought home as much olive oil as we could! The highlight of the trip for me was our amazing guide Irini. She taught us so many interesting things and we found her to be so lovely and caring. She even gave us a complimentary olive blossom cream for our growing baby girl Olivia (coming soon!!). And if you are lucky you will spot some of her beautiful puppies making some guest experiences around the mill.

Learning about the process of making the olive oil, and visiting the olive grove was the most fascinating part of the tour. Seeing the 1100 year old olive tree was an unforgettable experience, and we cannot thank George enough for the amazing history he gave us. He was so knowledgeable, informative, and fun to be around he made the experience so much fun! We were made to feel like family and it was clear the business is very loved by all. Along with Marcos and the other couple on the tour it was a great energy to be out among the olive trees. Do not miss out on such a great experience, we hope to visit again as a...