How close can a winemaker come to tasting olive oil like a pro?
Can a winemaker ever claim to taste olive oil like a professional? That's a question I found myself asking during this week's Wine Back Wednesday, sampling Adelaide Hills Harvest olive oils. My approach brings technical focus, but the roots are different: the soil is similar, the fruit might be kindred, yet the taster's toolkit has gaps.
First harvest: Koroneiki cold-extracted
The first oil on the table is a Koroneiki extra virgin, cold pressed and cold extracted under 25° Celsius. That temperature is far warmer than what we'd aim for with a white fermentation - those often sit at 12 to 14°. In wine, that chilling reins in yeast-driven heat; olive oil, though, has no fermentation step and relies on swift extraction to preserve freshness.
This first press oil delivers what I’d hope for as a winemaker: vivid green, lifted aroma, palate viscosity without heaviness, and a peppery build like a mouthful of rocket - sharp, direct, yet clean. The measured phenolic content jumps out: 722.6 mg per kilogram. For reference, typical supermarket oils are ten times lower, hovering near 50 to 150. Above 250, the European Union recognises demonstrable health benefit, and this sits three times beyond that threshold. Phenolic compounds here - oleocanthal, hydroxytyrosol, oleacein - seem to echo the bitter and spicy nuances that tannin brings to wine.
Flavoured oils: lemon, garlic, chilli
Flavoured olive oils present a different test. The lemon oil, whole fruit extracted with the olives at a stated pace of about a kilo of lemons per litre of oil, comes across as zest-driven rather than juice-laden: evocative childhood cheesecake, all mid-palate vibrancy. The acidity sensation tames the pepper, showing how blending and infusion can find a balance.
Garlic’s trickier. The aroma lands more evenly between oil and clove, but flavour leans punchy - a reminder how intensity in fresh ingredients can overshadow, not always integrate. As with a wine blend, there’s value in restraint: starting small and gauging the dish before tipping the lot in.
Chilli, using 100% whole chillies, brings its warmth and herbal lift. Adelaide Hills Harvest aims for moderation, and it does seem gentler than many home macerations. Still, the essential message repeats: add sparingly, taste, adjust.
Translating a winemaker's lens
I’m not a professional olive oil taster - my background is Spanish family kitchens and years of amateur sampling. There’s still plenty I don’t know, and I’m mindful of that. Olive oil extraction yields (20 - 25%) remind me that the fruit’s composition shapes everything, as with table and fortified wines. Yet in translating the tasting notes - the interplay of aroma, palate, textural grip - it’s easy to overreach. Technical markers like phenolic content supply one axis of quality; sensory memory and intended use fill in the rest.
The biggest takeaway for me? Respect for both the overlaps and divides between my craft and olive oil. It’s worth approaching with humility as much as technical curiosity. If you’re crossing that line yourself, perhaps pause to notice the differences as well as the familiar cues.
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