Director of the Pierredon estate in Estézargues, Gilles Granier owns 90 hectares of vineyards and 15 of olive trees. He has also had an oil mill since its installation in 2004. Often awarded, the estate celebrates this ancient fruit. Above all, he is the president of the Union of Olives and AOP Olive Oil of Nîmes.
Gilles Granier president of the olive and AOP olive oil union of Nîmes (Photo Syndicat AOP).
Objectif Gard: What does the olive represent in the Gard?
Gilles Granier: The olive tree has been an ancestral crop for over 2000 years. The cultivation of the olive tree in the Gard, until the frost of 1956 and the problem of phylloxera, represented something important. Olive trees are almost dead even though they are immortal, but because they take a long time to regenerate, the culture has evolved. However the land was very healthy and the farmers replanted the vines. Culture disappeared a little and then reappeared. Now, the olive tree represents 200 hectares of cultivation for the Gard and 200 producers in AOP. It’s very low!
Under false airs of simplicity, is the cultivation of this fruit complex?
However, it is difficult to make it a primary crop, the main one on a farm. The olive tree is rather a secondary crop because the olive tree alternates its production from one year to another. One blow makes money, one blow wood. It is very difficult to predict a turnover. Often people are winegrowers and olive growers at the same time, but there are still some farmers who have gone all out in the olive business, they have an oil mill and they make a living from buying olives. All in all they are preparing for this problem and stock up or eat their brown bread! But culture is complicated.
How was the 2022 harvest?
This year is a year of negative alternation. Last year there were olives everywhere and everyone was happy. It was said that the olive tree adapted perfectly to the climate and its changes. But this year the olive tree, of course, didn’t produce an olive. Disaster! Don’t worry, there will be a lot of olives next year. This year too is not catastrophic. Last year we produced 600 tons in the Gard and between 50 and 80 tons in AOP. We will only produce 400 tons of olive oil in the Gard and I am still optimistic. This year we will do the same in AOP, Picholine resists these alternation phenomena quite well.
while talking d’AOPwhy are olive oil and olives of Nîmes classified?
A AOP extensionit’s a geography through a terroir but above all a precise taste so as not to deceive the consumer. The product must also exist, of course. The AOP here is Picholine. It is almost monovarietal because we are entitled to only 10% of other secondary indigenous varieties. Picholine gives an oil that is significantly different from the others.
Is Picholine worth all that is said about it?
Picholine is the best oil for health, it is the one with the most antioxidants. I studied pharmacy and worked on olive oil. These antioxidants give the juice of the fruit bitterness and pungency. The third main point is that Picholine is fruity. There are aromas of yellow plum, raw artichoke, tomato sauce, basil, very vegetal things when you pick it when it is perfectly ripe, when the olive is between green and black. It’s the best oil in the world, I’m a bit of a chauvinist but it’s true!
And the Picholine at the table?
Even the table olive is PDO, the olive of Nîmes. We are trying to change the denomination name to have the Picholine name. It is ultra famous when we talk about it in Paris, Bordeaux or Lille. The DOP is an important guarantee because everything is always tasted by a jury to maintain the same taste, the same crunchy sensation… At the same price or almost, it would be better to have the Picholine AOP!
It’s time to validate this name change…
In France, 150,000 tons of oil are consumed, while in good years only 6,000 to 7,000 tons are produced! It’s nothing… Bad year, we’ll be at 3,000 or 4,000 tons. Culture grows, of course, but it also goes north, as far as Bordeaux and soon even further north than the Drôme or the Ardèche! The great castles of Bordeaux are already planting olive trees!
Strongly DOP Picholine olive oil!
There are not many PDOs for olive oils, we have to establish our know-how and our variety, the Picholine. This variety was born here and must remain so. It was born in Collias, near my house, by the Piccolini brothers who had invented the bittering of big olives! It is already protected but we must protect it.
A precious liquid… Is Picholine a nice Christmas present?
Perfectly! It must be a nice gift. Furthermore, and what is interesting to understand, is that, as with all fruit, there is a seasonality. We are in it! It’s the season for new oil, our Advent oil is magnificent, it has just come out of the mill and its taste will give Christmas dishes sunshine and liveliness. It will stay with these flavors for a month or two, then settle down to slightly sweeter aromas for two years before fading even further. Taste these seasonal oils, it’s really amazing!
Can you cook with olive oil? And fruit, do we eat it and how?
The Spaniards do it! It can be cooked, it keeps cooking up to 280°C but if you have good oil it’s a shame because you lose the antioxidants, the value of our olives. If, on the other hand, you put a nice drizzle of oil on a hot plate at the end of cooking… it’s wonderful! The Picholine oil then rises in temperature, releases its aromas and this is where you will enjoy it. Afterwards, for everything else, it also works cold, but the Gardois know how to use olive oil. Raw on a hot plate like a goat cheese pie, or pasta… It’s crazy! And for fruit only, obviously as an aperitif but let’s not make a caricature because Picholine also has nutty aromas and a crunchy texture. I eat it with southern white wines.
What is the budget for oil and olives?
For fruit you have to count between 12 and 20 euros per kilo depending on the package. Count on average about fifteen euros per kilo. For oil there is less difference, we will be between 20 and 28 euros per litre. It all depends on the packaging of course. Glass is currently expensive… I prefer the bag in box, like wine, vacuum-packed in three or five liters but no more, otherwise it’s illegal! With this conditioning the olive never sees the light and cannot oxidize, which is ideal. In the bottle, make sure it is dark to avoid UV rays. Seeing the color of the oil is of little use in buying it.
I’m interested in settling down, can I come to the union?
Of course ! The olive tree is truly an amazing and beautiful thing to work with. If you want to approach olive growing as your main activity or as I advise you in high school, I will inform you if you are in the Gard and geographical area. We will advise you on sowing, breeding rights, pruning courses… And of course you will know everything there is to know about growing Picholine!
Antonio Maurin
