Hojiblanca
Spain’s second variety by area and the only one that is genuinely dual-purpose at commercial scale. Its firm, large fruit is the basis of the Spanish black table olive industry; its early-harvest oil is the classic green-almond and bitter-herb Andalusian profile.
In the grove
Hojiblanca — "white leaf", for the pale underside — covers 362,232 hectares, concentrated in Córdoba, Málaga and Seville. It handles chalky soils, drought and winter cold better than Picual, and it yields well, though in alternating years. The catch is the fruit: it clings so hard to the branch that mechanical shaking struggles, which is one reason growers accept its lower oil content. The other reason is that the fruit has a second market.
Harvest date matters here more than in almost any other variety. A three-year ripening study tracked total phenols falling from 819 ppm early in the season to 282 ppm late, from the same groves. Early-harvest Hojiblanca can carry three times the phenolic load of late-harvest fruit, which is why the DOP Estepa specification sets a floor of 405 ppm rather than trusting the variety alone.
Compared with the other reference cultivars
| Cultivar | Origin | Typical polyphenols | Sensory profile | Best pairing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hojiblanca | Córdoba, Spain | 280–820 mg/kg | Green-fruity, firm bitterness, peppery finish when picked early | Roast vegetables, pulses, aged cheese |
| Picual | Jaén, Spain | 300–700 mg/kg | Intensely green, clean bitterness, late-building pungency | Tomato salad, grilled vegetables, bread and salt |
| Coratina | Puglia, Italy | 330–410 mg/kg | Powerfully green and herbaceous, strong bitterness and pungency | Bean soups, grilled meat, bitter greens |
| Koroneiki | Messinia, Greece | Around the Greek mean; Cretan surveys 138–441 mg/kg | Green and aromatic, balanced bitterness and pungency | Greek salad, feta, grilled fish, horta |
| Arbequina | Lleida, Spain | 200–230 mg/kg | Soft, sweet entry, barely bitter, light pungency | Fish, salads, baking, mayonnaise |
| Cornicabra | Toledo, Spain | ~630 mg/kg | Intensely fruity, elegant moderate bitterness, measured pungency | Game, stews, hard cheese, toast |
| Picudo | Córdoba, Spain | Not published | Aromatic and sweet, very little bitterness | Desserts, fresh cheese, delicate fish |
| Manzanilla de Sevilla | Seville, Spain | Not published | Grown for the table; oil rarely bottled monovarietal | The olive itself — vermouth, tapas |
Polyphenol figures are the ranges published for each variety, not measurements of any bottle in the library. A single oil's figure depends on when it was picked and how it was milled, and is shown on that oil's own page where the producer states one.