La Magnanerie
Domaine La Magnanerie is a family olive estate near the Gorges de l'Ardèche, in the south of the Ardèche where the limestone plateaux meet the foothills of the Cévennes. The Martin family, farmers on this land for five generations, grow, press, filter and bottle certified organic extra virgin olive oils on the property, and several of their cuvées have been ranked among the best in the world.
The estate
The name comes from the property's past: a magnanerie is a building where silkworms were raised, a common trade in this corner of the Cévennes before the family turned the land to olives. Today Eric Martin runs the estate, and the groves cover 24 hectares on two very different soils. The northern parcels sit on white Urgonian limestone, stony and full of fossils, which the family credits for the aromatic intensity of its oils. The southern parcels lie on warmer red clay studded with flint, which brings out bitterness and pepper. The orchard is not irrigated, and the Cévenol climate, with its sharp contrasts, does the rest.
Around ten varieties grow on the estate: French olives such as Aglandau, Bouteillan, Picholine and Callian alongside Mediterranean cultivars including Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccio del Corno and Nocellara. Farming is certified organic and deliberately "living": biodynamic compost, permanent ground cover, no chemical pesticides, and attention to the phases of the moon for pruning, harvest and bottling.
The harvest starts early, between late September and late October, to capture green, lively fruit. Olives go straight to the estate's own modern two-phase mill without any storage; the paste is cooled quickly through a heat exchanger, and the oils are filtered for stability. The estate's cuvées were laureates of the Flos Olei world competition in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
What they make
Clipperton carries the full set of six organic cuvées, each in a 500 ml glass bottle with a pouring spout. Vert Cévennes is the everyday oil, a balanced blend of Rougette, Picholine and Callian. Rosetta is a Tuscan-inspired blend of Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccio del Corno grown on French soil, elegant and generous in the mouth. Sauvage, a bold, intensely fruity blend of Aglandau, Bouteillan and Picholine, was named best blend in the world at Flos Olei in 2019.
Three single-variety oils complete the range. Apogée is pure Bouteillan, picked very early around the October full moon. Hypnotik is made from Nocellara olives on a high plot and has an assertive character and a coppery hue. Cosmos, the grand cuvée, is made only from the rare Leccio del Corno olive and was twice named best organic oil in the world at Flos Olei, in 2022 and 2023.
- Blends: Vert Cévennes, Rosetta, Sauvage
- Single varieties: Apogée, Hypnotik, Cosmos
Browse them all in the La Magnanerie collection.
Why Clipperton chose them
Clipperton is a family importer, and we look for producers who control every step themselves. At La Magnanerie the same family grows the trees, runs the mill, filters and bottles the oil, and can tell you which parcel and which soil a bottle came from. That level of care, on a certified organic estate that has been measured against the world's best and come out on top, is what we want on tables in Canada and the United States. We buy directly from the estate, and each oil arrives as it left the mill.
