Small Group Highlight: Croatian Olive Oil Tour and Tasting

No one knows for sure when olive trees originally appeared on Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula. Some believe the first were planted during the Bronze Age when ancient Histri tribes inhabited the area, while others believe olive trees have been in Istria much longer. However, what we do know is that olives have long been a staple of Croatian culture and cuisine – as has the olive oil they produce.

Early accounts of Istria’s olive oil date back to the Holy Roman Empire, when naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote in his Naturalis Historia that Istrian olive oil was the “finest in the empire.”  The area’s rich history of olive oil production continues to this day, carried on by the many small, family-owned olive farms dotting the countryside – farms like Grubić, which we visit on our Pearls of Dalmatia small group tour.

First opened in 1927, the original mill operated for almost 40 years, eventually shuttering in 1965. The facility then fell into a state of disrepair before the current owners purchased and restored the mill in the early 1990s, and they’ve been producing world-class olive oil ever since.

Grubić owns a prime location on the Istrian Peninsula, surrounded by groves of olive trees – some of which date back as many as 400 years. It’s fitting, then, that our tour should begin in front of the olive mill, where we meet the 400-year-old female Buža olive tree affectionately called “Queen” by the staff. We then head inside the plant where our guide from the farm teaches us all about olive oil production, from the traditional techniques originally employed when the mill first opened to the modern methods used today.

Our group then continues on to the original olive oil mill – now a museum and, more importantly, a tasting room. Here, we have the opportunity to sample all the different olive oils produced here, as our guide teaches us how to properly perform a professional sensory analysis of each oil on offer and recommends food pairings for each variety.

Discover the history, tradition, and flavor of authentic Croatian olive oil on our Pearls of Dalmatia small group tour.