The different PDO olive oils from France

Do you regularly hear about Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) olive oil without knowing what it means? Find out in this article how an olive oil can become PDO.

What does the PDO designation mean?

Protected Designation of Origin olive oil is characterised by a strong historical link between olive oil and the specific characteristics of a terroir: geographical area, climate, geology, olive tree varieties and know-how. Thus, olive oil producers meet very precise requirements for production. The application of these criteria is meticulously controlled by an independent expert.

For an olive oil to be classified as PDO, production, extraction and bottling must be carried out in the same place. Indeed, these are guarantees of quality that promise you olive oils with excellent taste qualities.

PDO olive oils from France

In France, there are 7 varieties of olive oil with the PDO designation:

• The olive oil from Aix en Provence
• The olive oil from Nîmes
• Olive oil from Corsica
• Olive oil from Nice
• The olive oil from Haute Provence
• Olive oil from Nyons
• Olive oil from the Baux-de-Provence valley

For example, the Compagnie de l’huile d’olive offers for sale some of these PDO olive oils:

– The superior quality medal-winning olive oil from the Baux-de-Provence valley is very characteristic of the Bouches-du-Rhône department. It is composed of olives: Salonenque, Verdale, Grossane, Aglandau.

This olive oil exists in 2 types of fruitiness: fruity green with an intense taste and fruity black with an old-fashioned taste.

– The Nîmes PDO olive oil of superior quality has been awarded a medal, specific to the Gard department. This olive oil is mainly composed of more than 70% Picholine olives.

– Nyons olive oil is produced in the vicinity of Nyons, in the south of the Drôme department. The olives are of the variety “Tanche”.