News

Picual, the Cabernet Sauvignon of the Olive World

25 Jun 2012

Brazilian magazine equates Spanish olive variety to the most global noble grape.

The olive oil and wine worlds have so much in common that the best manner to introduce a wine enthusiast into the pleasures of liquid gold is to explain olives using an oenologic glossary.

Adega makes it clear to Brazilians. In the olive world Picual reigns in a fashion similar to Cabernet Sauvignon in the wine scene.

Picual represents half of the plantings in Spanish olive groves and accounts for approximately 20% of the world’s olive plantings. Its abundance, popularity, quality, and ease of cultivation approximate the olive variety to the world’s best known noble grape. Nevertheless, in spite of also sharing with Cabernet Sauvignon its great potential to conquer the world, olive oils produced from Picual are not as notorious beyond Spain.

Author João Calderón reviews the history of Picual olive groves, explaining that in the 17th and 18th centuries they were planted in deserted areas with a view to stimulating their economic development. Picual is now planted in various provinces of Andalusia, as well as in other Spanish regions. DOP Sierra Segura, DOP Sierra de Cazorla, or DOP Sierra Mágina are some protected Spanish appellations where Picual is extensively planted.

The publication explains its readers the qualities that make Picual resistant, successful and prolific, describing its productive cycle and the elements of the olive oils it produces: stability, abundance of fatty acids, natural antioxidants, polyphenols, and monounsaturated fats. Flavor-wise Picual-based oils are intense, fruity, showing some vegetal notes and even green apples.