Olives From The Grove To The Press To The Bottle To The Palate - Part 1

July 2009
History, Quality, Cultivation

HISTORY
The wild olive tree is native to Asia Minor and references to them date back roughly 6000 years ago, mainly in modern day Iran, Syria, and Palestine. It was thought to be the first cultivated crop by nomadic man. The modern fruit-bearing olive tree, olea europaea, dates back to the 17th century bc where it first appeared in print in Egyptian records and was mentioned numerous times in the Bible. The word “olive” comes from the Latin olivea which first appeared in English around 1200ad. Olive trees were introduced to California in 1769 by the Spanish Franciscan Friars. Their mandate from the Spanish Crown was to explore this new land and set up a series of missions, where they would plant yellow mustard grass for trail marking, black mission fig trees for food, mission grapes for sacramental wines and brandy, and mission olive trees for olive oil. From the first mission on the Baja peninsula south of San Diego six hundred and thirty miles north to the town square in Sonoma there is a series of twenty one missions marking the Friars explorations. The collection of missions and the trail that connected them became known as the El Camino Real, or the royal road.

QUALITY
Olive trees were cultivated in Asia Minor originally because the trees grew wild in that environment, the resulting oil that was created from well suited growing conditions for the olives was thought to taste better. Those original Olive trees were cultivated, and cuttings were taken everywhere for planting across the Mediterranean. Today Spain and Italy are still the leaders internationally in olives and olive oil production. But California has developed a reputation for some of the highest quality internationally. Mainly because of the science of agriculture in California with the ag focused state college system. You can receive a degree in horticulture and plant biology from UC Davis with a focus in Pomology, the study of olives, right along side of the graduates in the viticultural school of Enology, the study of grapes and wine making. Sometimes in Europe there is not as much focus on the study of new methods and plantings, rather a focus on tradition and traditional varieties. In the hands of an artisan the century old plus trees of Spain and Italy are still capable of the greatest olive oils on the planet. Much of the excellence is consumed locally and does not make it to the states. Fraud and dilution has been the scourge of the European olive oil industry as of late, unfortunately stories of canola oil being soaked in the left over olive paste from olive oil production to absorb aroma, and then being bottled as extra virgin are not rare. Blech. California has developed a fascination with the aromas and textures of the different olive varieties and how they respond to the varied Mediterranean micro climates available in California’s wine growing regions. The quality of California olive oils has escalated because of the precision farming of the olives, the greater appreciation for blending several varieties together to achieve balanced texture and aroma, and the extreme attention to sanitation, temperature control, and oxidation during production. You align all of these elements, and the results are an explosion of high quality olive oils from specifically engineered olive groves, planted and organically grown to precise ripeness, for maximum aroma and flavor, processed in winery-like conditions.

CULTIVATION
Different weather and location has an effect on the olives flavors and textures, heat, cold, humidity, rain fall, and different soils, rich and loamy, or rocky and hot. In the case of olives, yes flavor is a big factor in the flesh and stone of the olive, but equal if not more important consideration is paid to the oleic acid content and the water content in the olives. When a wine grape is ready to pick, you can pop one in your mouth and taste the sugars and acids in the grape juice and make a sensory determination about the flavor. The olive is not very pleasant to eat raw. As a matter of fact it is pretty much inedible when raw. So color is the number one factor in determining the ripeness for harvest decisions. Breaking open an olive to examine the depth of the ripeness penetration into the flesh and its’ uniformity is the final step before the pick decision is made. Each variety of olive has its’ own color band of ripeness indicators.

An olive tree likes to have its interior branches thinned to allow for more light and air through the canopy. This encourages better and more even ripening of the olives, which becomes important during harvest where the attempt is to pick each tree entirely on the day of peak aromatics and ripeness. The skill and understanding of the pruning sets the harvest size. After the annual pruning the olive tree is, pretty much, a hands-off proposition until harvest. Water is an essential control element as too much dilutes the essential oils collecting in the olives, and too little devigorates and shrivels the olives. Just like with grape vines, the age of the plant will diminish the yield of fruit as they grow older. Olive trees have a natural alternate bearing harvest cycle. One year they carry a heavy crop, the next year lean. Better crop management is the only way to mediate the drastic swings, but the weather can always throw you curve balls every harvest season. On a good year, with a well maintained tree, depending on the extraction method for the oil, you can expect roughly three quarters to one gallon of extra virgin olive oil per tree. That is right per tree. One ton of ripe olives will yield in the neighborhood of 14 gallons of olive oil. We are talking labor of love.

(Read On For Classification, Processing, Storage and Tasting)

Written By: Khristopher Lund 
Khristopher is a freelance writer and Sommelier living in the Napa Valley. Check out his Blog