🫒 Tsounati

Tsounati is an old Greek oil olive cultivar that gives oil of excellent quality, while part of the fruit is brined. It grows mainly in western Crete and the southern Peloponnese and covers 15–20% of Greece's olive land. In the International Olive Council (IOC) catalogue its synonyms are Athinolia and Mastoidis.

Crete has many Tsounati trees that are thousands of years old and still bear fruit. The famous Olive tree of Vouves was once grafted with a Greek cultivar; a 2021 DNA analysis showed that the scion is genetically close to Mastoidis, that is Tsounati, but not identical to it — related roughly as a half-sibling.

The fruit is medium-sized, moderately elongated, with a distinct “nipple”, and dark purple when ripe. It is very rich in oil, and the oil is of excellent quality. Part of the crop is cured, giving green olives and salted black olives. The tree comes into bearing at a medium age; yields are medium and alternate from year to year.

Tsounati is not afraid of cold, so it also grows higher in the mountains: in western Crete Koroneiki is planted up to 500 metres, while Tsounati climbs higher. It ripens gradually — in the Selino area the harvest runs from late December to April, pausing during cold spells. Tsounati copes moderately with drought and salinity; olive knot rarely affects it, but peacock spot, the olive fly and verticillium wilt do harm.

Why it matters to you. On a Cretan label, Tsounati is the lead cultivar of the PDO “Selino Kritis”: at least 60% Tsounati and up to 40% Koroneiki. The new PGI “Kriti” (2025) requires Koroneiki and Tsounati together to make up at least 90% of the oil, and Kalamata olive oil allows Mastoidis up to 5%. If a bottle says “Mastoeidis” or “Athinolia”, it names the same cultivar.