Olives noires de la Vallée des Baux-de-Provence

Mas de l'Ange presents itself as a family farm run by the Monnier family, located in Fontvieille, in the heart of the Vallée des Baux-de-Provence, in the Alpilles. It claims four generations of olive growing: inherited by Alain Monnier in 1978, the estate is managed today by Patrick Monnier. Operating as an EARL, the farm cultivates around 1,700 olive trees and produces PDO (AOP) Vallée des Baux-de-Provence olive oil — fruité vert and matured — claiming the appellation since 1997, alongside table olives, olive pastes and spreads, and artisanal jams.

The Mas reports an annual production of around 2,500 litres of fruité vert oil and 2,000 litres of matured oil, made exclusively from olives sourced from the Vallée des Baux-de-Provence. It offers 1 hr 30 min group tours by appointment, including tastings, as well as a direct-sales shop.

Mas de Cayol presents itself as a family-run olive estate established in the commune of Les Baux-de-Provence and in the valley at Maussane-les-Alpilles since 1912, handed down through four generations — from Victor and Gabrielle Legrand to Gilles and Laetitia Citi today. Originally founded on 50 hectares of market-gardening, fruit-growing, and olive-growing land, the estate describes itself as a 'producer of table olives and oil olives', driven by a passion for the land. In 2019, Laetitia Citi launched 'La Maison du Goût et du Terroir' there, in the village of Les Baux-de-Provence.

The farm produces several PDO (AOP) Vallée des Baux-de-Provence olive oils — Noir d'Olive (matured olives), organic Noir d'Olive, Fruité Vert, and single-variety organic Grossane — as well as cracked olives and organic black 'Grossane' olives, both also under PDO Vallée des Baux-de-Provence. It sells its produce through direct sales and via an online shop.

Moulin Cornille is an olive-growing cooperative based in Maussane-les-Alpilles, in the Vallée des Baux-de-Provence. Its vaulted building, devoted to olive oil production since the 17th century, became a cooperative in 1924: each year, the mill collects olives from numerous olive growers across the valley to process them, following traditional savoir-faire passed down from generation to generation.

The cooperative claims two oils under the PDO (AOP) Vallée des Baux-de-Provence — 'fruité noir', made from olives matured in lofts before extraction, and 'fruité vert' — obtained from the five olive varieties typical of the terroir: Salonenque, Grossane, Béruguette (Aglandau), Verdale des Bouches-du-Rhône, and Picholine. It also offers oils outside the appellation (La Noire, Grossane, La Verte, Picholine, an organic oil) as well as a cooking oil. Its delicatessen range completes the offering with preparations based on the valley's Grossane black olives and green olives — purée, cream, and doypacks.

In its own words, nearly half of the mill's production is sold directly at its shop, with the rest exported (notably to Japan and the United States) or distributed to delicatessens and restaurants.