So, is there a difference between Italian and Spanish or any of the other countries?
James: and a good bottle of wine eh.
Yes, as Dave said, different soils, climates, etc. all make a difference. I've haven't tried a lot of non-Italian olive oils but in general I've found Greek oils to have a very strong but simple, even coarse, taste and smell. Spanish oils also but to a lesser extent: they were more sophisticated than the Greek, but not up to the Italians in complexity. It may be, however, that I haven't tried the better and more expensive examples from those countries. The couple of California oils I've tried were bland. Olive trees, like wine grape vines, produce better quality as they age.