Estoublon
Château d'Estoublon is a 300-hectare estate at the foot of the Alpilles, near Fontvieille in Provence, that lives by two harvests: grapes and olives. Its olive groves sit within the Vallée des Baux-de-Provence PDO, and the oils pressed at the estate's own mill, along with its vinegars, olives and tapenades, are what Clipperton brings to Canada and the United States.
The estate
The story starts in 1489, when the de Grille family, prominent in the nobility of Arles, bought the land. The first château was destroyed in 1561 during the religious wars; rebuilding of the present house began in 1642, and in 1674 the family received the title of Marquis d'Estoublon, giving the estate its name. The first olive mill was built in 1731, so oil has been made on the property for nearly three centuries.
The de Grille family sold in 1922, and the estate passed through several hands during the twentieth century. After the great frost of 1956, the owners of the day replanted with distinct varieties so that each could be pressed on its own, the origin of the single-variety oils Estoublon is known for today. The Schneider family bought the château in 1998, and in the years that followed the groves and vines were placed under an organic protocol; since 2020 new owners have continued the work, adding a signature wine cuvée and, more recently, alcohol-free sparkling wines.
Five Provençal olive varieties are grown: Salonenque, Bouteillan, Grossane, Béruguette and Picholine. The estate mill keeps the time between picking and finished oil to no more than 24 hours, and every oil is extra virgin and cold-extracted, which is why they taste so distinctly green and fresh. The estate's oenologist, Victor Joyeux, composes the blends. Estoublon is also a member of the Comité Colbert, the association of French luxury houses.
What they make
Clipperton carries the olive oils in their several forms, the Provence-inspired vinegars, table olives and olive pastes, and the estate's newest departure, L'Excessive, an alcohol-free sparkling created with Carla Bruni.
- PDO Vallée des Baux-de-Provence Olive Oil – the organic five-variety blend, pressed within 24 hours of harvest.
- Couture Olive Oil – the estate's grand cru blend in its sculptural glass bottle.
- Picholine Olive Oil – a single-variety oil, peppery and fiery.
- Balsamic Vinegar – organic, aged in oak for at least 60 days.
- Lucques Olives – the crescent-shaped, buttery table olive, hand-harvested.
The full Estoublon collection also includes the Grossane, Bouteillan, Salonenque and Béruguette single-variety oils, truffle oil, rosemary, thyme, shallot, walnut and raspberry vinegars, olive oil sprays, tapenades and the two L'Excessive sparklings.
Why Clipperton chose them
Clipperton is a family importer with a soft spot for Provence, and Estoublon is the estate we point to when someone asks what a great French olive oil tastes like. It is a working farm with a five-hundred-year history, not a label: the olives are grown on the property, milled on the property within a day, and bottled variety by variety so you can taste the difference between a Grossane and a Picholine. We work with the estate directly, and we told its story at more length in our Journal: Hidden gems of Provence: discovering Estoublon olive oil.
