Olive oil and wine, a traditional bond at Evonymon

Evonymon was founded in 2013 by Stavroula Rozou (PhD pharmacist) and Nicolas Krikelis (MSc chemist), producing extra virgin olive oil and aromatic herbs of Greece from their estate, Agros, in Varakes, Messinia (southern Peloponnese), a few km from Pylos and Methoni.

The estate includes an olive grove, a botanical garden with endemic aromatic herbs, a wild orchid collection, and a private olive mill where award-winning extra virgin olive oil is cold-extracted. The estate is open year-round for olive oil experiences, and guests may also participate in olive harvesting in mid-autumn.

Guests are welcomed with a herbal infusion or fruit juice. The tour covers the history of olive cultivation and olive oil production, a look at 19th-century millstones and the modern private mill, and an olive oil tasting where guests sample 5–6 different oils in the garden.

Discussion covers positive and negative oil attributes, how to distinguish good olive oil, storage, usage, and the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil. The tour then explores the long history of wine cultivation in Greece, leading into a food pairing session with 4 different local wines — a tasting of the traditional bond between olive oil and wine in the Peloponnese.

Guests are served rye rusks with soft cheese and lemon spoon sweet, pasta salad, olives, cold cuts, cheese, a savory loaf with herbs and cheese, and a dessert. Water and coffee are included. One lucky guest wins a prize in a knowledge quiz, and guests are encouraged to stroll the garden’s endemic plants and herbs.

Olive Mill Tour and Olive Oil Tasting

• Olive Oil Tasting: Participate in a structured tasting of Evonymon’s premium extra virgin olive oils guided by certified tasters using panel methodology
• Wine Tasting: Taste a curated selection of Greek wines that complement and contrast with the olive oils in the tasting
• Traditional Bond Exploration: Explore the ancient Greek relationship between olive oil and wine through food pairing, history, and sensory analysis