If you are looking for an olive oil tasting in Crete that welcomes your dog, I have found it for you. Vassilakis Estate is a family olive farm in eastern Crete, a short drive from Agios Nikolaos and Elounda, and it turned out to be one of the best afternoons of our entire trip. The private tasting costs 45 euro per person, runs about an hour and a half between the tasting, the factory tour, and the shop, and yes, Daisy was welcome the whole way through. Here is the full story, including how we nearly didn't make it there at all.
How We Ended Up at an Olive Farm in Crete
Let me be honest, this visit almost didn't happen. The original plan was to visit an olive farm on one of our first days, after a morning at the beach. Instead, we went to a very traditional Greek restaurant, and somewhere between the beach and dinner I started feeling awful. I threw up, the plans collapsed, and we went back to the hotel. I think it was a mini migraine more than anything, and by the next morning I was fine, but the olive farm got shelved.
Here is where it turned around. We were staying at the Niko Seaside Resort in Agios Nikolaos, and when we got back we bumped into Natasha, the hotel's manager, who had been taking amazing care of us all week. Full review of Niko Seaside here, because she was a big part of why we loved it there. She asked how we were getting on, and we asked if she could help us arrange an olive farm visit. The farm she recommended was Vassilakis Estate, which was actually a different one from the farm we had originally been pointed toward. She sat down with us, showed us where it was, talked us through the options, and rang them up on the spot.
One thing to know before you get your heart set on a Sunday visit. Sunday is technically a non-working day in Greece, so opening up for a private tasting comes with a surcharge of 60 euro per person on top of the tour price. We decided that was not worth it and waited until Tuesday instead. By then we had moved on to our next hotel in Elounda, and when we mentioned our plans, they recommended the exact same estate. When two hotels independently send you to the same olive farm, you go.
The Private Olive Oil Tasting
Our appointment was at two o'clock, and this trip marked a personal milestone. It was Daisy's first holiday with her stroller. She had never even sat in it before we went away. Normally I carry her in a bag, but she weighs just over six kilos, and in the Cretan heat that is a workout I do not need. The stroller was the best decision of the trip, and the estate's paths and spaces worked fine with it. Bonus, it made the perfect front-row seat for Daisy to admire the ancient olive trees on display outside, some of them thousands of years old and twisted into shapes you would swear were sculptures.
We were greeted the moment we walked in, and not just us. "Hi there, it's Daisy!" was the general energy. Our guide, Val, came out, introduced herself, and immediately told Daisy they would be doing the tasting together. Val has a husky type dog of her own, and another member of the team even popped over just to say hello and tell us about her little dog, Blondie. Daisy was in good hands from the first minute.
Upstairs we went, into a proper formal sit-down tasting room with glasses laid out and labelled in front of each seat. This was not a splash of oil on a paper plate. There were four different olive oils to work through, all made from the same olive variety, which is exactly what makes it interesting. Same olive, four very different results.
Learning to Taste Olive Oil Properly
Before anything touched our lips, Val had us clean our palates. According to the International Olive Oil Council, you use green apple or water, so we each had a piece of apple. Then came the technique, and I loved this part. You take the glass, hold it cupped in your hands with the lid secured on top, and gently swirl it around to warm the oil. You bring it close to your chest, open the lid, and smell. The first one we tried had such high intensity that the aroma hit immediately. It smelled incredible.
Then the actual tasting. You take a good sip, keep it in your mouth behind your teeth, and inhale through your mouth so the oxygen opens up the aromas. You hold it there, and only then do you swallow. I have poured olive oil over salads my whole life and never once thought about it this way. There was bread on the table too, but Val was firm that the oil gets tasted plain first. The bread is your reward at the end.
The Four Oils and Our Favourites
Working through four oils made from the same olive really shows you how much the growing and production decisions matter. My favourite was the VEE, which is the organic one. Cheryl's favourite was the Estate oil. We did not agree, and that is sort of the point. By the end of the table you know what your palate likes, which makes the shop at the end far more useful than guessing off a shelf.
Fun detail I did not expect. The bottles are sealed with nitrogen gas before they get capped, which protects the oil from oxidation. It is the kind of thing you would never learn buying olive oil at the supermarket.
Touring the Olive Oil Factory
After the tasting, Val walked us over toward the factory, past the old mills and presses they used in years gone by. The antique machinery is displayed against the stone walls outside, and Daisy inspected every last piece of it. Seeing the old equipment next to the modern facility gives you a real sense of how far production has come.
Inside, the scale surprised me. Rows of huge steel tanks, most of them sitting empty because the year's oil had already sold and shipped for export, with a reserve kept under the bottling facility as backup for orders and the shop. We visited in summer, so there was no active production happening, which is worth knowing if you are hoping to see olives actually being pressed. For that you would need to come during harvest season.
Even without live production, the walkthrough was fascinating. The olives arrive from the fields with leaves and small branches mixed in, and a vacuum system pulls all of that out through tubes into a separate area where it gets processed for compost. Nothing wasted. The olives are then worked for 30 minutes at a temperature below 27 degrees, which is how they achieve real cold extraction. From there the solids get separated from the liquid, the solid remains go off to be used for fuel, and the liquid gets spun until the oil separates completely.
One detail I really rated. They run two entirely separate machines, one for the organic olive oil and one for the conventional. Because the organic line is certified, there can be no cross-contamination at any point. When you pay extra for organic, this is what you are paying for.
The Shop and the Carob Discovery
Then came the shop, and honestly, the tasting was not over. It just changed format. We tried more olive oil, olive jam, olive spread, and a lineup of balsamic vinegars. The orange balsamic was my favourite by a mile. There was a thyme one too, which was not for me, but that is what tasting is for. Val also poured us a little tsipouro, which is essentially the same spirit as the raki you get after meals in Cretan restaurants. We are not lovers of it, to put it politely, but Val explained that it is excellent for digestion, which finally explains why every restaurant in Greece insists on giving it to you.
And then, the moment of the day. Carob syrup. Val described it as tasting like a healthy chocolate, and she was right, it is rich and dark and slightly strange in the best way. I went in expecting not to like it and was completely surprised. It goes on ice cream, pancakes, salads, whatever you like. But here is the part that matters for this blog. Carob is safe for dogs. It is basically the dog world's answer to chocolate, and they make dog treats and calcium supplements from it.
Daisy, who had slept through a respectable chunk of the factory tour, woke up at precisely the right moment. Val offered her a taste of carob, and she went for it. She got it all through her beard, looked extremely pleased with herself, and gave it her official taste test approval. On a trip where Daisy mostly watched us eat, the fact that she got to taste something at the olive farm was such a lovely touch.
We also tried a herbal tea blend of oregano, thyme, and flowers, plus honey. I bought a honey with thyme in it, which was my second honey purchase of the trip, so you can see where my priorities were. Between the two of us, here is how the shopping shook out. I bought my Charisma Organic olive oil, the thyme honey, and the carob syrup, which Daisy has thoroughly endorsed. Cheryl was travelling carry-on only, so she skipped the shipping option they offer and picked a balsamic and an olive oil in cabin-friendly sizes. The shop stocks 100 millilitre bottles for exactly this reason, and there is a gift box with an olive oil and a vinegar together for 15 euro that makes a great present. If you want the full-size bottles, they can ship them home for you.
A Dog-Friendly Olive Farm in Crete
Finding a dog-friendly olive farm in Crete was not something I expected to tick off, but Vassilakis Estate could not have been easier with Daisy. She came into the tasting room, through the factory areas, and around the shop, partly in her stroller and partly being fussed over by everyone we met. Val greeted her by name before she greeted us, other visitors stopped for cuddles, and at no point did anyone make us feel like bringing a dog was a compromise.
The stroller deserves its own mention here. If you have a small dog and you are visiting Crete in the heat, get one. Carrying six kilos of Shih Tzu in a bag through a Cretan summer is nobody's idea of a holiday. The stroller kept Daisy shaded and comfortable through the walking parts of the tour, and she simply slept when the content was not up to her standards.
And the carob makes this stop extra special for dog parents. How many activities on your holiday actually include something your dog can taste? If you are planning a wider trip around the island, our Crete with dogs luxury guide covers where else Daisy was welcomed, and our Domes Noruz review shows just how far Cretan hotels will go for a dog.
Booking Your Olive Oil Tasting in Crete
Here is the practical bit, friend to friend. Book ahead rather than just turning up, especially for the private option. We had our hotel call and arrange everything, which took all of five minutes, and honestly this is the move. A good hotel manager like Natasha will sort the timing, confirm the dog is welcome, and give you directions. Avoid Sundays unless you are happy to pay the 60 euro per person surcharge, since it is a non-working day in Greece. A weekday afternoon worked perfectly for us.
On the money question, go private. The private tasting is 45 euro per person, and the magic was in having Val to ourselves, asking every question we wanted, and moving at Daisy's pace. There is a free 45-minute mill tour option and group visits too, but I would not trade the private experience for the saving. This was one of those cases where the paid version is a completely different product.
A few more things I would tell a friend. Visit outside of Sunday, obviously. If seeing live oil production matters to you, come during harvest season rather than summer, when the tanks are quiet. Leave room in your luggage or be ready to use their shipping, because you will not walk out empty-handed. And if you are travelling carry-on only like Cheryl, head straight for the 100 millilitre shelf.
For extra details and booking, the estate's website is vassilakisestate.gr.
Would We Go Back
In a heartbeat. I do not even like olives, which I fully admit is a strange confession from someone who just wrote two thousand words about an olive farm, but this was never really about olives. It was about learning to taste something properly, seeing how a family estate actually works, and being welcomed, all three of us, like old friends. By the end of the trip I was convinced we were slowly turning into olive oil.
Whether you are travelling with a dog or not, this is one I would recommend to anybody visiting eastern Crete. Most people reading this blog are planning around their dogs, but even if you never expect to see a dog on your own trip, put an olive oil tasting in Crete on your list, and make it this one. If you are still working out where a trip like this fits, Plan with Daisy is a good place to start.
Daisy gives it two paws and one carob-covered beard. Vassilakis Estate, consider yourselves officially Daisy Approved.
