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| Artisan Olive Oil in Wine Country | ||||
| Sip and savor a variety of fine Californian oils. You won’t regret it, and you won’t go back to the supermarket for olive oil again. | ||||
| BY TODD KEITH * PHOTOGRAPHS BY LIBBA YOUNG | ||||
It’s not as if olives are new to the region: Franciscan missionaries from Spain planted the first groves here in the mid-1700s, but only recently has the industry taken off and begun to garner impressive recognition, both at home and abroad. Both Apollo and Stella Cadente were recently named among the top 10 oil producers in the world by Der Feinschmecker magazine in Germany. Taste the small-batch, artisan oils next to what one finds in a local grocery store, and it’s easy to see why California oils are bringing home awards. “California produces about .6 percent of what’s consumed in the U.S.,” begins Paul Vossen, a founding member of the California Olive Oil Council and a highly regarded olive expert at University of California Davis. “But anybody buying those .6 percent are buying excellent oils, vastly better than the cheap imported olive oils in the supermarket. The California oils primary characteristic is that they taste fresh. The cheap bulk oils from the supermarket do not.”
While Spanish olive varieties are mellower in character, oils made from Italian olives offer a more peppery taste. The olives are typically picked November through January as they mature from green to red and then finally, black. Harvest young, and you get oil with strong, peppery notes. Wait until more are black on the tree, and the late harvest olives possess a more complex, mature flavor. Ripe olives usually lean towards a buttery taste, reminiscent of nuts. Importantly, unlike wines, the color of fine olive oil is not indicative of quality, which is why most experts prefer to taste it in dark glasses that conceal the coloring. And that taste is different from most store-bought brands. It is fresh, immediately distinctive, and in many cases, more bitter. However, the term “bitter” is not a negative. Like dark tea or chocolate, a bitter taste is usually a positive description, as is “pungent.” Incidentally, that bitter taste is also what makes olive oil good for you. Determining one’s preferences in olive oils is similar to determining one’s tastes in wine. Vossen says, “Go out and try a bunch of them, and figure it out. The only way the consumer will know is to develop a familiarity with olive oil, and then a few years from now you will know.”
Premium California Brands AlphaWOLF Apollo
McEvoy Olinda Ridge Pasolivo Stella Cadente |
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Judging by the chatter and animated discussions, one might assume the phrases, “sweet, fruity taste,” “cut grass notes,” and “a strong peppery finish” come from a group of friends enjoying a relaxed wine tasting. It doesn’t. Among the rolling hills sculpted with graceful vineyards of Napa and Sonoma, one is likely to see more and more olive trees dotting the California landscape. After all, the climate is right and judging from the American market, so is the timing. After gourmet coffee and tea, olive oil is the most purchased specialty foods category. And that trend toward quality domestic artisan-made olive oils is only increasing, witnessed in the growing popularity of olive oil tastings and visits to the olive farms in California.
This quality stems from a variety of details, from the Mediterranean climate of California, to harvesting by hand from bigger trees planted farther apart than most large-scale olive groves, as well as the fresh factor. While we don’t usually think of olives as such, they produce a real fruit juice, taken from fresh fruits, unlike many other vegetable oils that are ground and extracted from seeds or nuts using solvents. Many of the better California brands are pesticide-free, organic, and often estate bottled for freshness. 
Bariani
