Roussillon olive oil

The olive tree has belonged to the hillsides of Roussillon for centuries, and the département long ranked among the great oil-producing regions of France. That history was broken in February 1956, the coldest month France experienced in the 20th century: the frost ravaged the olive groves, and olive growing in the Pyrénées-Orientales came close to disappearing. The revival began only some thirty years later.

The recovery is the work of producers, millers and associations. From 2003, the association Les Oliviers du Roussillon, supported by Europe and by the Département, catalogued the local varieties, created a training course and gathered the knowledge into a collective work, Oli, published in 2007 by Trabucaire. A producers’ association was then formed to seek an appellation “Huile d’olive du Roussillon”. The application is still under examination.

What the appellation seeks to protect is a mosaic of varieties. The association has selected seven, each with its Catalan name and its area: the Olivière (Ouana), found throughout the département; the Verdale (Verdal), from Força Réal to the Conflent; the Glory (Clori), from Montou to Força Réal; the Poumal (Pomal) of the upper Fenouillèdes; the Courbeil (Curivell) of the Côte Vermeille; the Redouneil (Rodonella) of the Albères, the earliest to ripen; and the Argoudeil (Argudell), ripe only at the end of November. Producers champion this diversity of flavours rather than a single profile.

The La Catalane cooperative mill, in Millas, has collected olives from across the département under cooperative status since 1943 and displays a collection of old tools. Around it, private mills and estates have appeared, whose plantations often take over former vineyard land. Production remains modest: about 140 tonnes of oil a year according to the Chambre d’agriculture, far less than the département consumes. Roussillon oil is therefore found mainly at the mill, at the estate or in the markets.