Country: France
Purpose: Oil
Synonyms: “Pourridale”, “Cul Blanc”, “Gangeole”, “Grosse Ronde”, “Groussaldo”, “Olive de Ganges”, “Olive Verte”, “Pourridale”, “Redounale”, “Redonale”, “Verdaou”, “Verdau”, “Verdava”, “Verdeau”, “Vereau”.
Difusión: 1 continent
Hérault (Southern France): a cultivar defined by its home basin
In Europe, Verdale de l’Hérault is documented as a cultivar tied to the Hérault department in southern France, where its very name points to a specific and identifiable place of origin.
Its story is that of a basin-based olive culture: uses, processing traditions, and agricultural practices consolidated within a local Mediterranean landscape rather than through “global” expansion.
Within the Gardens of Peace framework, this European presence exemplifies a cultivar that becomes territory: not because it spreads everywhere, but because it makes a place legible through the olive tree, its supply chain, and agricultural memory.
Agronomic and commercial considerations:
Low vigorous tree with upright growth habit. It is a variety with constant production and therefore not very alternating. Partially self-compatible, the Picholine, Grossane and Arbequina varieties are excellent pollinators. It is one of the main French oil varieties, but it is also used for the preparation of green olives. The oil is very sweet, and slightly spicy. The fruits must be processed immediately given their low tolerance to handling due to a very thin and sensitive epicarp. Very resistant to cold, sensitive to verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae), olive leaf spot (Cycloconium oleagineum) and olive fruit fly attack (Bactrocera oleae).