Walnut Oil Tasting at the Moulin de la Tour, Sainte-Nathalène
Just 25 km south of Terrasson near Sarlat, the Moulin de la Tour is one of the last working walnut-oil mills in France still using a 16th-century stone wheel. A visit here reframes everything you thought you knew about salad dressing and makes for a genuinely memorable half-day excursion from Terrasson.
How the mill works
The walnuts — almost exclusively the Marbot and Grandjean varieties grown in the Périgord — are cold-pressed between massive granite millstones driven by a waterwheel on the Enéa stream. The resulting paste is then gently heated in a cast-iron cauldron before being pressed through cloth to yield the deep amber oil.
The owners, the Gaillard family, give informal tours that explain each stage with infectious pride. The smell inside the mill — warm walnut, old wood, running water — is one of those sensory memories that stays with you for years.
Buying and using the oil
You can taste and buy directly at the mill shop: walnut oil, hazelnut oil and almond oil, all cold-pressed on site. The walnut oil has a rich, slightly bitter depth that supermarket versions never achieve. It is excellent over lamb's lettuce with Roquefort, or simply drizzled on warm goat's cheese toasts.
Back in Terrasson, you will find walnut oil used liberally in local restaurant dressings — now you will taste the difference immediately. The mill also sells whole and half walnuts in season (October–December), which make ideal picnic supplies for exploring the Vézère valley.
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