Domaine Salvator: Five Generations of Olive Oil at Les Mées

At Domaine Salvator, the olives never travel far. They grow on the estate at Les Mées, in the Durance valley of Haute-Provence, and they are pressed the same day in the family’s own mill, a few steps from the trees. The Pinatel family has worked this land since 1902; five generations on, it farms organically and bottles its extra virgin olive oils under the Provence and Haute-Provence protected designations of origin.

One estate, its own mill

The estate keeps one rule above the others: the oil comes only from its own orchards, and the olives are pressed on the day of harvest. The Moulin Salvator, on the property, is what makes that possible, and it is the main reason the green oils keep such fresh aromas of cut grass, green apple and raw artichoke. Frédéric Pinatel leads the estate today, and its oils have been recognized in competition, including a gold medal at the Concours Général Agricole in Paris in 2024.

The local variety is Aglandau, prized for its intensity and character, grown alongside Bouteillan, Picholine and Tanche. Some of the trees the family tends are more than four hundred years old.

Two styles from the same trees

Green fruity. Olives picked early and green give lively, peppery oils rich in polyphenols. Durance is a pure Aglandau under the Haute-Provence PDO, the kind of oil that bites at the back of the throat. Paradis is a Bouteillan-led blend under the Provence PDO.

Matured olives. Fruit left longer on the tree gives a soft, round oil with notes of ripe olive, prune, vanilla and cocoa, and almost no bitterness. Légende, from Picholine and Tanche, is the gentlest of all, an oil a child would happily dip bread into. Vieux Oliviers is its Aglandau counterpart.

A third family adds flavor at the mill: whole lemons crushed together with the olives for the Fresh Lemon oil, and fresh basil, garlic, mandarin, thyme, lemon and ginger, Espelette pepper or a gentle cold smoke for the others.

How we use them

• Durance or Paradis raw, on tomatoes, a white bean salad or a bowl of soup, where their pepper shows.
• Légende for fish, mild vegetables and bread, and for anyone who thinks they do not like olive oil.
• Fresh Lemon on grilled fish, steamed vegetables or a simple green salad.

Read the full story on our Domaine Salvator page and find every bottle in the Domaine Salvator collection.