Look, sniff, swirl, taste, swish, savor. Sounds like a wine tasting, but these activities are associated with the art of olive oil tasting—just one dimension of a budding industry that awaits those venturing into Texas’ olive country. Aficionados of the noble little fruit, and connoisseurs of its oil, now find a touch of Tuscany in the rolling hills near Wimberley and in pockets south of San Antonio. In addition to orchard tours and tastings, olive oil and health and beauty products derived from the Lone Star crop are sold at several locations. And for those seeking a romantic, Old World experience, at least one gorgeous grove is available for weddings.

Bella Vista Ranch, in Hays County near Wimberley, is home to more than 1,000 silvery-leafed olive trees. Modeled after a traditional Italian farm, or fattoria, the 172-acre ranch features the olive orchard and a frantoio (olive press), along with a vineyard, licensed winery, “pick your own” berry patch, fruit trees, a vegetable garden, and friendly cattle. Each spring, olive trees are arrayed with cream-colored flowers similar to those of waxleaf ligustrum. Bella Vista harvests its fruit in late August.

“We’ve proven that olives will grow in Texas. It’s not easy, but it can be done,” says owner Jack Dougherty, who protects his trees with a deer-proof fence and has replanted at least once because of frost damage.

Jack and his wife, Pat, welcome individuals and groups daily (except Tuesdays) and offer samples of their extra virgin oil, which is pressed and bottled here under the First Texas Olive Oil Company label. Folks whose visit coincides with Bella Vista’s fall olive-pressing can watch as the press crushes the prewashed olives into a paste that looks like guacamole. The paste is blended and then fed through a high-speed centrifuge that separates the oil from the fibrous pomace. The oil is then aged and bottled.

“The protocol for tasting olive oils is just like for wines,” explains Jack, who took up olive-growing after a career as a technology salesman. “Sometimes it has a nutty, or grassy, or fruity aroma or flavor. The amount of rainfall, picking time, the age of the tree, and the variety all affect the flavor.”

According to Jack, olive oils have vintages just as wines do, but unlike wines, their flavor deteriorates with age. For his gourmet oil (available only at the Bella Vista Ranch tasting room), Jack supplements his own olives with olives purchased from other growers in Texas and California.

For a fee, groups who book ahead are treated to a “Day in Tuscany” luncheon, which includes a Tuscan salad, pasta, focaccia bread, and a light dessert. “Guests get a choice of one glass of Bella Vista Cellars wine or a tall glass of limeade made with limes grown here,” says Jack.

A subtropical evergreen tree that endures and bears fruit for centuries, the olive (Olea europaea) is native to Asia Minor. It appeared in the Mediterranean basin some 6,000 years ago and spread throughout the region. Olives have oiled the wheels of civilization, as it were, since ancient times, playing a prominent role in Greek culture and serving as the basis for sacramental oils used in Judaism and Christianity. Franciscan missionaries brought olives to Mexico and California. Today, olives are either pickled or pressed for oil. Olive wood is highly prized by carvers for its beauty. The pomace (the pulp and pits that remain after the oil is removed) is used as fuel, fertilizer, and cattle feed. But the olive is valued most for its oil, and, partly as a result of publicity on the healthfulness of the so-called Mediterranean diet, Americans’ consumption of olive oil has doubled in the past decade.

The statistics caught the attention of Dallas oilman Trigg Dealey, who saw the potential for a different kind of oil boom in Texas. When Trigg helped form the Texas Olive Oil Council in 1994, he envisioned 1.5 million productive trees across southwest Texas within a decade. Texas A&M University horticulturists, however, disagreed, insisting South Texas nights are too warm for successful fruit-bearing and noting that Central Texas temperatures, even with somewhat cooler nights, sometimes dip below freezing. Challenges culled out some of the growers, including Trigg, but a few hearty souls pressed on, and today, the Lone Star crop boasts some 60,000 trees.

David and Beverley Anderson, who caught the fever after attending the Olive Oil Council’s first meeting, in 1996, are industry pioneers. The four Tuscan varieties planted on their La Salle County ranch near Dilley in 1997 are now 20 feet tall. The Andersons expanded last year with 6,000 dwarf varieties, which should produce enough fruit for oil in two to three years.

“Our new trees are already five feet tall at a year old,” says Beverley. “They had a few olives in 2004 and more this year. Last year’s olives were very tiny. I don’t think they were serious. They were just practicing.”

To date, the Andersons have not produced enough oil to market under their Anderson Ranch Olive Oil brand, but their olive outlook is far from drab. Says Beverley, “Our goal is to produce strictly extra virgin olive oil that is truly a Texas product—only from trees grown on our land and pressed and bottled on the ranch. We are still in the experimental stage, but someday, we expect to see a big industry here in Texas like California’s.”

That’s not out of the question. An article in the June 2005 issue of California Olive Oil News, eyeing Lone Star competition, predicts “Texas will be a real contender with land prices many times lower than in California’s Napa Valley.”

Jim Henry, a founding member of the Texas Olive Oil Council and an early wildcatter in the Texas olive oil patch, is the grove manager and a partner in The Groves of San Miguel, the state’s largest producer of olives, with 40,000 trees. At first glance, travelers along Farm Road 1557, south of Carrizo Springs, think the high-density grove is a vineyard. The staked olive varieties here (Arbequina, Arbosana, and Koroneiki clones) will be mechanically harvested.

“These are not table-olive varieties. They are strictly for oil,” Jim emphasizes. “That’s our focus.” (Jim is also sole owner of a separate business, the Texas Olive Company.)

In 2004, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for label language stating “the monounsaturated fats in olive oil may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.”

“It’s the world’s best oil from a health and taste perspective,” says Jim. “U.S. consumers are discovering what the people in the Mediterranean have always known, so demand is high. One day, the supply will surpass demand, but that’s probably 20 years away. I hope to be sitting on the porch drinking wine at that point.”

Nearby, Jim Marmion, another industry pioneer, dabbles in olive oil, nurturing some 2,400 Tuscan, Mission, and Arbequina varieties on his Moro Creek Ranch.

If your route takes you south of San Antonio via Interstate 37, swing by Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard, just south of Loop 1604, where 10,000 olive trees thrive among large live oaks that dot the property. Four sheds house 10,000 or more seedlings and shoots at any given time.

“We stock the trees to expand our orchard and to sell to others who would like to join in the adventure of growing olive trees,” says proprietor Saundra Winokur.

Like other growers, Saundra’s ultimate goal is extracting oil.

“We are building an on-farm store to sell pickled olives and the other products we make using olive leaves and olive oil,” says Saundra, whose products include soaps, hand creams, lotions, and scrubs. “We will eventually have a press. For now, I have a beautiful old mill from Egypt set up outside. People are fascinated with it.”

In addition to selling olive products and trees, Sandy Oaks hosts private parties, weddings, and corporate retreats.

With trials of various olive-tree varieties underway at the USDA’s Kika de la Garza Subtropical Agricultural Research Center in Weslaco, and with the support of the Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas olive oil industry is taking root. Though skeptics still have their doubts, and arctic cold snaps remain a threat, olives are drought-tolerant and have few pests. These ancient trees prefer rocky, high-pH soil, and Texas has plenty of that.

Producers admit olive-growing in the Lone Star State is tricky, but the market for high-quality, extra virgin olive oil is a powerful incentive. Olive plantings are cropping up on more country estates.

“It’s a wonderful life,” says Saundra Winokur. “If it begins to pay for itself, that will be icing on the cake!”

Or, you might say, the olive oil on the pasta….

Bella Vista Ranch is 8 miles northwest of Wimberley (3101 Mt. Sharp Rd., 78676). Tours of the olive orchard and frantoio can be scheduled, but are usually not available during the berry season (pick-your-own raspberries and blackberries). Hours: Mon and Wed-Sat 10-5, Sun 10-4; closed Tue. To schedule a group tour, a “Day in Tuscany” lunch, or other special event, call 512/847-6514 at least 3 days in advance, or email oliveguy@bvranch.com; www.bvranch.com; www.texasoliveoil.com.

Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard is some 20 miles south of downtown San Antonio (25195 Mathis Rd., Elmendorf, 78112), off I-37 and 41/2 miles south of Loop 1604. Hours: Mon-Fri 8-4. Call 210/621-0044; email: Saundra@sandyoaks.com; product information at www.sandyoaks.com.

Other growers covered in the article do not have retail operations, and have irregular hours, but may be contacted as follows: Jim Marmion, Moro Creek Ranch, Box 1002, Carrizo Springs 78834-7002; 830/468-3536. David and Beverley Anderson, Anderson Ranch Olive Oil, Box 18, Dilley 78017; 830/378-5511; email: danderson@granderiver.net. Cheryl Haas, The Groves of San Miguel, Inc. (on FM 1557 south of Carrizo Springs), 877/461-4708. Jim Henry, Texas Olive Company, 6907 Old Preston Place, Dallas 75252; 214/325-5787; email: olivehenry@aol.com.

For more information on the Texas olive industry, write to the Texas Olive Oil Council, 6907 Old Preston Place, Dallas 75252; 214/325-5787; www.texasoliveoilcouncil.org.

The Groves of San Miguel sells olive trees (“They’re wonderful for landscaping,” says grove manager Jim Henry) through its subsidiary, Wagner Nurseries, which also offers consulting services for prospective growers; call Cheryl Haas at 877/461-4708. Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard also sells olive trees; call 210/621-0044.