In Focus: The Tsounati Olive
Where Koroneiki rules the Cretan lowlands, Tsounati climbs the mountains. One of the island’s oldest cultivars — known since Minoan times — this hardy, altitude-loving olive gives a green, herbaceous, robust oil and doubles as a table fruit. It is Crete’s high-country character in a bottle.
Tsounati is a traditional Cretan olive, reckoned one of the island’s oldest varieties and cultivated since the Minoan age. It is the mountain counterpart to the lowland Koroneiki, hardy enough to grow up to around a thousand metres, and it accounts for a meaningful share of Greek olive acreage. Closely tied to the Mastoidis group of the Peloponnese, it is dual-purpose: pressed for a robust, high-quality oil and cured, green or black, for the table. This is the olive of Crete’s higher, cooler slopes.
Crete’s mountain olive
Crete lives and breathes olive oil, and while Koroneiki dominates the plains and terraces, Tsounati belongs to the highlands. Its toughness — cold tolerance, drought resistance, the ability to crop at altitude — is exactly why it survived where gentler varieties could not, and why it remains a proud part of the island’s heritage. Growers on the higher slopes keep it for character and for the distinct, slightly different oil it gives compared with the ubiquitous Koroneiki below.
In the bottle
Tsounati oil is green and characterful: medium-to-intense fruitiness with aromas of fresh grass, artichoke and tomato, sometimes rosemary and wildflower, and a genuine bitterness with an even stronger peppery aftertaste — the mark of a fresh, polyphenol-rich oil. It is robust and food-friendly rather than delicate, superb over Cretan staples: horta (wild greens), pulses, grilled vegetables, rusks and cheese. Cured as a table olive it is firm and savoury. Taste it beside a Koroneiki to feel how much the mountain changes the fruit.
The name behind the name
Here is a subtlety worth knowing. Tsounati, the Mastoidis of the Peloponnese, and names like Athinolia and Mastoeidis are often used for what is essentially the same or a very closely related olive, catalogued differently from place to place. It is a reminder that Greece’s olive world is a tangle of local names for overlapping varieties. For the buyer the practical lesson is simple: trust the region and the harvest date over the name on the label, and seek a clearly Cretan, mountain-grown single-variety to taste Tsounati at its best.
| Origin | Crete, Greece |
|---|---|
| Also called | Mastoidis, Athinolia (related) |
| Type | Dual-purpose (oil & table) |
| Altitude | Crops to ~1,000 m |
| Harvest | November–January |
| Flavour | Green, herbaceous, robust; artichoke & pepper |
| Best use | Finishing robust food; also cured for the table |
Buying & using Tsounati
- Seek a clearly Cretan, mountain-grown single-variety with a harvest date.
- Use it on robust Cretan food — wild greens, pulses, grilled vegetables, cheese.
- Its bitter-peppery bite is a sign of polyphenols and freshness.
- Names vary (Mastoidis, Athinolia) — trust region over label wording.
Tsounati olives: common questions
Is Tsounati an oil or table olive?
Both — it is dual-purpose, pressed for a robust, high-quality oil and cured green or black for the table.
Where does Tsounati come from?
Crete, above all the western mountains, and the southern Peloponnese. It is one of the island’s oldest cultivars, grown to about 1,000 m.
What does Tsounati oil taste like?
Green and characterful — grass, artichoke and tomato, with genuine bitterness and a strong peppery finish that marks a fresh, polyphenol-rich oil.
How is Tsounati different from Koroneiki?
Koroneiki dominates the Cretan lowlands; Tsounati is the hardier mountain variety, robust and grown at altitude, giving a distinct high-country oil.
Is it the same as Mastoidis?
Closely related — Tsounati, Mastoidis and Athinolia are overlapping names for essentially the same or a very similar olive, catalogued differently by region.
Tsounati is Crete’s high-country character — while Koroneiki owns the plains, this hardy old variety climbs to a thousand metres and gives a green, artichoke-and-pepper oil with a real polyphenol bite. Use it on robust Cretan food: wild greens, pulses, grilled vegetables. One subtlety worth knowing — Tsounati, Mastoidis and Athinolia are overlapping names for essentially the same olive, catalogued differently place to place. Trust the region and harvest date over the label wording, and seek a clearly Cretan mountain single-variety.
Drawn from Cretan producer notes and Greek variety catalogues (Tsounati / Mastoidis).