Eight Varieties, Four Countries: Learn about our olives
When most people think of an olive, they probably picture a small green or black fruit. But spend a little time in our grove and you quickly discover that there is no such thing as simply an olive.
At Wattle Hill Olives, we grow eight different olive cultivars representing four countries: Spain, Italy, France and the United States. Each has its own history, appearance, ripening time, cropping characteristics and, most importantly, personality.
Some are grown primarily for oil. Others are prized as table olives. Some ripen early, while others are left hanging much later into the season. Together, they make our grove a fascinating collection of olive genetics from all around the world!
A grove with four different olive-growing traditions
Our eight varieties come from Spain, Italy, France and the USA, bringing together cultivars that have evolved in very different climates and for very different purposes.
It's a little like having a small international olive collection right here in Tasmania.
And because each variety responds differently to our local conditions, every harvest gives us another opportunity to see how these cultivars perform in Tasmania's climate.
Let's meet them.
🇪🇸 Spanish varieties
Manzanillo
Origin: Spain | Ripening: Early | Use: Primarily table fruit but also oil | Fruit: Large and spherical
Manzanillo is one of the stars of our grove.
It is considered by many to be one of the finest tasting table olives and can be harvested either green or black. One of its standout characteristics is its exceptionally high flesh-to-pit ratio, making it a particularly good eating olive.
It's also one of our heaviest cropping varieties, so when the Manzanillo trees are having a good year, they can produce an impressive amount of fruit.
Interestingly, Manzanillo was traditionally believed to be an important cross-pollinator and was often planted among other varieties to improve their yields. In our case these trees are planted in a diamond shape where every 7th tree is a Manzanillo to help with cropping of its neighbours!
Nab Tamiri (Gordal Sevillano)
Origin: Spain | Ripening: Early | Use: Table fruit | Fruit: Very large
If you want to see just how big an olive can get, look no further than our Nab Tamiri.
This cultivar is also known as Gordal Sevillano and produces exceptionally large olives (almost cherry sized) on a picturesque evergreen tree with airy, willow-like branches.
The fruit has relatively low oil content, which makes it much better suited to eating than milling. Traditionally, Gordal olives have been used for salt-brining and curing, producing the large, meaty table olives that are so popular in Mediterranean cuisine.
Nevadillo
Origin: Spain | Ripening: Mid-season | Use: Oil and table | Fruit: Medium to large
Nevadillo is a particularly impressive tree in our grove.
Its glossy green foliage and reliable cropping make it a favourite from a growing perspective, while the fruit can be used for both oil and table olives.
In Spain, Nevadillo Picual is one of the important olive cultivars and is valued for characteristics including heavy cropping, drought tolerance and pest resistance.
It also gives us something important in our grove: a variety that sits between our early and late-season cultivars.
🇮🇹 Italian varieties
Le Cure (Frantoio)
Origin: Italy | Ripening: Early | Use: Oil
Our Le Cure is also known as Frantoio, one of Italy's most famous oil-producing olive cultivars.
Frantoio is prized for its high oil content and floral characteristics, and it has proved remarkably adaptable. It can be found growing in environments ranging from far north Queensland through to the much cooler climate here in Latrobe.
The name Frantoio is closely associated with Tuscany and historically refers to places where olives were pressed to produce their prized oil.
For an olive grower, it's a fascinating variety because it combines Italian heritage with an ability to perform well far beyond its traditional home.
🇫🇷 French varieties
Boutillan (Bouteillon)
Origin: France | Ripening: Late | Use: Oil
Boutillan is a cold-hardy French variety and one of the more distinctive cultivars in our collection.
As the season progresses, its fruit develops from green towards a striking burgundy colour.
It is grown primarily for oil production because of its high oil content and pungent flavour characteristics.
There is also an interesting piece of history behind the variety. Evidence suggests that Boutillan may have originally shared grafted rootstock with the Italian Frantoio before eventually overtaking the original scion material.
It's a small example of how olive varieties have travelled, crossed paths and evolved over generations.
Bouquetier (Bouquettier / Verdale)
Origin: France | Ripening: Early to mid-season | Use: Oil and table | Fruit: Medium
Bouquetier is easy to recognise in the grove.
It is a smaller tree with predominantly silver, weeping branches, giving it a very different appearance to some of our larger cultivars.
The trees can crop heavily, although typically in alternate years. The olives start out bright green early in the season and develop a blush of pink as they approach harvest.
Its manageable size and drought tolerance have also made Bouquetier useful beyond commercial olive production, including as a hedging or potted plant, and it has proved adaptable to both coastal conditions and colder climates.
🇺🇸 American varieties
UC13A6 (California Queen)
Origin: USA | Ripening: Early | Use: Table | Fruit: Very large
The California Queen is an American cultivar developed at the University of California.
It's another variety where size is the standout feature, producing olives weighing up to around 11 grams.
That makes it particularly well suited to eating and preserving, especially where a large, impressive table olive is desired.
The tree itself is also distinctive, with leather-like leaves displaying contrasting green and silver tones.
UC23A9
Origin: USA | Ripening: Early | Use: Table
UC23A9 has perhaps the most interesting origin story of all our varieties.
It was originally cross-bred in 1952 from Manzanillo and Sevillano with the goal of producing a crop suited to Californian conditions.
Today, relatively little is known about the variety's broader history, but it has found a home in climates far beyond California — including Tasmania.
It's a great example of how olive genetics developed for one environment can end up thriving somewhere on the other side of the world.
Why do we grow so many different varieties?
The simple answer is: because they're all different.
For us, growing eight cultivars isn't just about having more names on a list. Each variety contributes something different to the grove.
They vary in:
- Harvest timing — from early-season varieties through to late-season cultivars
- Fruit size — from medium olives to enormous table olives
- Oil content — some are particularly well suited to oil production
- Flavour — each cultivar can contribute different characteristics to an oil
- Cropping behaviour — some are reliable heavy croppers, while others crop more heavily in alternate years
- Climate tolerance — varieties developed in Spain, France, Italy and California are now growing together in Tasmania
- End use — some are primarily oil varieties, while others are better suited to the table
This diversity is particularly useful in a Tasmanian grove. We're not relying on a single cultivar or a single harvest window. Instead, we have varieties that mature at different times and respond differently to the conditions each season brings.
From four countries to one Tasmanian grove
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about our grove is the journey these trees have taken.
A Spanish table olive, an Italian oil cultivar, French varieties bred for their hardiness and American cultivars developed for Californian conditions have all ended up growing together on our farm in North West Tasmania.
And that's what makes olive growing so interesting.
The variety is only the beginning. The final character of an olive oil is shaped by the interaction between cultivar, climate, soil, harvest timing, fruit maturity and milling.
The same variety grown in Tasmania can produce a very different expression from the same cultivar grown in its country of origin.
So next time you taste an olive oil, don't just ask where it came from.
Ask which olive made it.
At Wattle Hill Olives, there's a good chance the answer could involve one of eight different cultivars — and four different countries — all growing together in our Tasmanian grove.