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Tourism and holidays in Provencal Drôme
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The olive grove of the Baronnies which is more than two thousands years old, is the most concentrated northern French olive grove. This geographical position can explain why some years ago, the production has been destructed because of the cold and frozen time.
The night of the 1st February 1956 was particularly deadly for many olive trees ; indeed, within some hours the temperature fell under the 20°C and the brenches and even the trunks of olive trees splintered whereas they were full of sap.
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Olive trees are well known to be undeadly trees because when the trunk deads other shoots grow up at the basis of it and a new tree borns out.
The production is late because an olive tree cannot give olives before 7 years of live and it is really productive when it is 35 years old.
The Baronnies county constitutes one of the most important area for olive culture with about 228.000 olive trees for more than 1.000 producers.
This area has been the first one in France which was granted with the AOC label in 1994 (which is a controlled guarantee of origin).
The « Tanche » is a variety of olive which could adapt itself better to the ground of Nyons area. The olive of Nyons is big and round and softly wrinkled with the first cold and dryeness of the air. The olives are collected when they are riped, that means whey they are black between December and January.
The big ones are the most tasteful and the smallest are used for the oil fabrication. The oil which will be extracted from this kind of olive will be particularly fruitly and with flavours of green appel like the « granny smith » kind of appel, and of dry fruits with a nutty taste.
Since 1994, the Nyons olive production area has been the only permanent site in Drôme named with a special label for its special flavour.
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| To discover : |
- The road of Olive : Throughout all the Baronnies region, you can discover museums, craftmen, oil mills and pictures specially dedicated to olive.
- Le Sentier des Oliviers à Nyons (the lane of olive grove in Nyons) :
On the way to discover this nice place, you can find some information pannels which will indicate you all the secrets of this legendary tree : its arrival in this French district, the olive oil fabrication, the art of cultivating it.
- Special tast training are organized and will help you to become special tatsters of olive oil. |
| To visit : |
- The mills of Nyons, Mirabel aux Barronies, Mollans sur Ouvèze and Buis les Baronnies
- L'Institut du Monde de l'Olivier AFIDOL Nyons -
Phone : +33 (0)4 75 26 90 90 – Fax : +33 (0)4 75 26 90 94
- Les Vieux Moulins (the old mills) – Nyons -
Two old oil mills of XVIIth and XIXth centuries.
Phone / Fax : +33 (0)4 75 26 11 00
- Musée de l'Olivier – Nyons -
Olive culture and oil fabrication -
Phone : +33 (0)4 75 26 12 12 (HR) |
| Events : |
- Middle of January – Buis les Baronnies – Alicoque
- 1st Sunday of February – Nyons – L'Alicoque, festival of new oil
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- The Week end preceding the 14th of July – Nyons – Les Olivades
- Third Sunday of December – Nyons – Fêtes des Olives Piquées (festival of pricked olives). |
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