This is the story of a couple who dreamed of going back to nature… after an all- consuming career in tourism in both the US and France.
Roland is the grandson of winemakers in Beaujolais, Carine is the granddaughter of farmers in the Drôme. Despite their agricultural roots, they managed to resist the lure of the land and to follow their passion for entrepreneurial adventure.
With a background in sport, during the early 80s they built an after- school beach club for children in the Landes. They then decided to move to the States to live the American adventure, living in LA from 85 to 98 where they founded three successful companies with the tourist industry.
In 1998, they sold everything, their house and companies having fallen in love with a 30 hectare wine estate in Provence, located in the little village of Cadenet in the Luberon.
For a few months they worked hard at re-organizing the estate, beginning by planting a few thousand trees. And then in 1999, based on their experience in the States, and while the trees were growing, they decided to build Auto-Escape, a company based on a fairly new concept in France: the car- rental business
The company which prioritized top quality service, developed very quickly and soon fifty employees joined the team based in Pertuis in the Luberon.
The company soon became the leader in France and attracted investors, so Roland and Carine COUPAT decided to sell up when it went public. The company was then taken over by Expedia.comthe Number 1 worldwide online tourism company.
In the meantime, the olive trees grew; more trees were planted and today the olive grove is composed of 4000 trees spread over 15 hectares of land. At the same time, Carine and Roland patiently studied all the techniques of olive oil production in France and Italy. Roland completed his training by being awarded a diploma in olive oil production in 2010 from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Montpellier.
The natural conclusion of their journey has been to build an olive Oil Mill, the very heart of the olive oil Industry of a village or a
region.
In order to better control the quality of its products, Bastide du Laval has built its own olive oil mill just outside the village of Cadenet.
Every effort has been made to be self-sufficient in terms of energy : from the position of the building to the high efficiency insulation, and the recycling of the olive-pomace for use as biofuel and soil improver. The extraction technique is by means of cold centrifuging in continuous chain. The olive press itself is new and of modern Italian design. This is a two-phase mill, which means that there is no addition of water during pressing, allowing the preservation of the majority of the flavours contained in the olives.
For information about OLIVE TOURISM, and learning how olive oil is made, have a look
Our Recent Awards
2019
Gold Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – black fruity matured olive
Silver Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity AOC Provence Bio
Silver Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity AOC Provence Goût Intense
Silver Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity Huile d’Olive de France Création
Silver Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity Huile d’Olive de France Création
Silver Medal at the National Olives Oil Contest denomination of origin label at Nyons – green fruity AOC Provence
2018
Gold Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity variety AOC Provence
Silver Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – black fruity AOC variety “Huile d’olive de Provence”
Silver Medal at the National contest of Draguignan – green fruity “Huile d’Olive de France” for the Organic Ardence
Gold Medal at the National contest of Draguignan – black fruity “Huile d’olive de France”
Gold Medal at the National contest of Draguignan – Organic AOC “Huile d’olive de Provence”
2017
Gold Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – organic green fruity variety “Huile d’olive de France”
Gold medal at the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Contest – organic green fruity variety “Huile d’olive de France”
Gold medal at the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Contest – green fruity variety AOC Provence
Gold medal at the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Contest – black fruity AOC variety “Huile d’olive de Provence”
Gold medal at the Interregional Contest of Brignoles – black fruity AOC variety “Huile d’olive de Provence”
Gold medal at the Interregional Contest of Brignoles – green fruity variety AOC Provence
2016
Gold Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity variety
Gold Medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – black fruity AOC variety
Silver medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity variety
Silver medal at the Annual Agricultural show of Paris – green fruity AOC variety
Gold medal at the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Contest – green fruity variety
Gold medal at the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Contest – green fruity AOC Provence
Silver medal at the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Contest – green fruity
Silver medal at the Interregional Contest of Brignoles – green fruity variety
Bronze medal at the Interregional Contest of Brignoles – green fruity variety
Silver medal at the International AVPA contest for “Les Huiles du Monde”, for the basil oil
Gourmet product at the International AVPA contest “Les Huiles du Monde”, for the lemon oil