From blood mill to continuous chain: how oil is made.

One hundred years of production, three different processes. From the horse turning the granite millstone to the stainless steel centrifugal decanters—the result in the bottle remains the same: an extra virgin oil, without chemical intervention, that still carries the taste of Oraison soil. Here's how we got there.

Before 1922: The "Blood" Mill

Until 1922, in the village premises, it was a "blood" mill—in other words, it ran on animal power. Papillon, the family horse, drove a granite millstone that crushed the olives. The paste—crushed pulp and pits—was then spread by hand onto coconut fiber mats called scourtins, stacked on the plate of a small hand-operated screw press.

1922: Joseph Paschetta Modernizes

In 1922, Joseph Paschetta installed the mill in the vaulted cellars of his wife Fernande's premises. For the time, it was a radical transformation: the mill now ran on an English petroleum engine—then, when electricity arrived in the village, on an electric motor. The equipment was manufactured by COQ establishments in Aix-en-Provence. The presses were hydraulic, and the oil was sorted by an Alfa Laval centrifugal separator.

The Scourtin Press — From the 1920s to the 2000s

This method remained the mill's process for decades. In 1965, the granite millstone grinder was replaced by a hammer mill, and the COQ presses gave way to more powerful, more consistent Italian Pieralisi super-presses.

• The olives are crushed to form a homogeneous paste (pulp + pits).
• The paste is spread on scourtins, stacked alternately with metal plates.
• The cart—200 kg of paste—is placed under a hydraulic press for three-quarters of an hour.
• The liquid that flows out passes through a centrifuge that separates oil and water.

"At the time, the presses were not very powerful, and the paste was pressed again with hot water—this was called the "2nd hot pressing." With the modernization of machines, a single pressing is enough. This is called the "1st cold pressing.""

Since 2000: The Continuous Line

In the 2000s, both sites switched to the continuous line process. The paste is continuously processed by centrifugation:

• Harvesting — from November to February, by hand or pneumatic comb.
• Washing — with cold water to remove leaves and soil.
• Crushing — a hammer mill crushes whole olives.
• Malaxing — the paste is slowly kneaded, temperature < 27°C.
• Centrifugal decanter — separates the juice (oil + water) from the pomace.
• Vertical centrifuge — separates the oil from the vegetation water.

It is through this simple mechanical process—without temperature elevation or added chemicals—that we obtain extra virgin olive oil with an acidity of less than 0.8%.

What It Changes in the Glass

Our oil, made from Aglandau olives harvested "turning"—between green and purplish, before full black ripeness—is fruity, with a hint of greenness and a peppery finish. Regardless of the method, the obsession has remained the same since 1922: press within 24 hours of harvesting, add nothing, heat nothing unnecessarily. The oil that comes out still carries the temperature of the earth.