Location Melanocarpon estate is located at the foot of Parnassos mountain (central Greece), at an altitude of about 500 meters. The main cultivation is Aronia Melanocarpa of Viking variety, a plant species that has its roots in ancient Greece.
Cultivation Aronia cultivation started up experimentally in 2011 (about 200 plants). For a period of two years, a team of science experts was observing and recording the yield of the crop. Soil physiology as well as the area microclimate turned out to be extremely beneficial and in 2014, they develop a full-scale organic Aronia Melanocarpa cultivation of 2.300 plants. Melanocarpon Estate, under the strict inspection of science experts, applies traditional and organic cultivation practices: manual weed destruction, manual crop harvest, soil fertilization using organic substance from the estate’s livestock, pollination with apiary, use of compost, usage of soil improvers such as leonardite and zeolite, modern protocols of nutrition and plant protection.
Melanocarpon Estate crop harvest and storage Harvesting starts in early September until mid-October, depending on the weather conditions. After harvesting, all impurities are removed and fruits are stored in maintenance conditions (1- 4 °C) for nearly a month. Then the fruits are frozen at -20°C to the next growing season. This sub-zero environment makes the berries more resilient, resulting in a more potent juice.
Melanocarpon Estate Juice Production Melanocarpon Estate follows a cold-press method to extract the juice, so to affect at the minimum juice’s quality characteristics. No added sugar, additives, preservatives and water areused. It is naturally gluten and lactosefree. The main production steps are:
the juice production area as well as the glass bottles are disinfected according to the organic protocol
defrost of the desired quantity of fruit and removal of leaves and stems
washing of the crop
crop chopping into a fruit crusher, to break the relatively harsh peel
slow crushing in a mechanical fruit press
juice filtration and manual bottling - visual inspection
pasteurization of bottled juice,in a pasteurizer with electronic content temperature sensor, at 84 °C momentarily