O-MED Picual

Behind O-MED is the Garcia family: Juan de Dios, the father, bought a small olive mill in 2004 without fully knowing what he was getting into. Paula and Juande, his children -- both pharmacists by training -- left their careers to devote themselves to olive oil. They come from Cambil, Jaen. The olive tree is in their DNA.

Harvest takes place in October, never later. From the moment the olive leaves the tree to the moment the oil is in a stainless-steel tank, hours pass -- not days. The entire harvest lasts 3 to 4 days at most. It is cold extraction, with no compromises.

The result is a Picual with character that has put Granada on the international olive oil map. O-MED Picual has won the Premio Alimentos de Espana three times (2017, 2021 and 2025), the German magazine Der Feinschmecker named it number 1 in the world in 2021, and in 2017 it received the first Mario Solinas award from the International Olive Council. Iberoleum has rated it 97.40 out of 100. Today it is exported to over 30 countries.

Cuando cato el Picual de O-MED, noto algo que no siempre encuentro: una estructura verde que entra dulce y luego se despliega sin prisa, con esos matices a pimienta negra y rúcula que te dejan la boca fresca durante minutos. Paula y Juande han entendido algo fundamental — que un Picual de cosecha temprana en Granada, molido en horas, puede tener la potencia de Jaén con la elegancia del microclima de la Vega. De los aceites que uso en las catas para demostrar que la variedad Picual tiene mucho más registro del que la gente imagina.