Our history
A little history
The oil mill in Merindol was built in the 17th century and juxtaposed the first Protestant temple in the village.
With its vaulted 140m2 room, it belonged to clerics for centuries. It was both the place where the oil was made during the olive season and also a communal meeting room for the villagers when asked by the Lord of the village.
It was a « blood mill » for many years and around 1910 it was bought by Frédéric Boudoire who continued its activity with his son Gabriel.
The first electric machines arrived in 1950 and oil making continued with Gabriel’s sons Yvon and Pierrot.
In 1956 the trees were destroyed by a heavy frost and it was only 7 years later that the machines were started up again. Modernisation continued but in 1998 the building and the fabrication of oil had to come up to the HACCP standards.
A few years later Yves Boudoire and Francine Boudoire took over from their parents.
Today it is Yves and his son Jérémy who are carrying on the know how and the culture of taste.
How our oil is made
The production of olive oil… over the centuries…
In our area the variety Aglandau Salonenque are picked from the 20th October until around the middle of December.
As the olives come into the mill they are stored in crates called « palox » containing 350 kilos of olives. Oil production starts within a maximum of 48 hours except for olives destined for « black fruity » oil.
5 different operations are necessary to obtain a drop of oil.
- Washing and removing any leaves
- Crushing with a mill stone or crushing mechanically according to the olives
- Kneading, which helps to stabilise the oil molecule which has exploded during the crushing
- Separating the liquid from the solid matter and then finally
- Separating the liquid matter by centrifugation into the water contained in the olives and the olive oil ready for consumption.
Using this process 3 different oils can be made : fruity green, ripe fruity and ripe fruity green.
Crushing using a mill stone is a very old technique which requires a certain know how and which gives the olive oil a special smoothness and a certain suppleness in the aromas. This technique produces ripe fruity oil and fruity oil from ripe olives.
A know-how that is transmitted between generations. The owners will be delighted to discuss the history of the mill with you.
