Our 2022 olive oil is ready! On November 17th, we harvested 1,740 pounds of olives from our trees in Boonville and brought them to an olive mill in Hopland (about 20 miles away) to be milled that evening. And last week, the oil was bottled up and we’re excited for you to have it in your kitchens!
Our trees were on their off year of production and only produced 24 gallons of olive oil (half of what we made in 2021). After setting aside what we need for ourselves for the year, we’ve got about 140 half liter bottles of oil to share with you.
On the farm, we have 500 olive trees that are a mix of 25 or 30 varieties of Spanish and Tuscan olives. Each of these varieties ripens at a different speed and also has a different flavor than the tree next to it. There’s a range in size, shape, and color in these olives. We think this helps lead to a flavorful, yet balanced olive oil, with butteriness coming from the purple ripe olives and pepperiness coming from the still green olives.
The olives in the 2022 olive oil were definitely more purple than green and more ripe than less ripe, making the olive oil smooth and buttery. It doesn’t have that really intense grassy pungency that it has had in the past and I’m enjoying the mellowness of it.
The number one thing we can tell you about olive oil is use it! Don’t hoard it in the pantry and save it for special occasions only. Enjoy it now at its peak flavor. Olive oil is not something that gets better with age. Make Pasta Aglio e Olio. Glug it into a simple bowl of our beans. Drizzle it on avocado toast. Fry your eggs in it. Make a salad dressing for some winter chicories. Dip a freshly baked focaccia in it! Or even make an olive oil cake with it. Honestly, with olive oil, the opportunities are endless.
If you’re wondering why our oil just says “olive oil” compared to “extra virgin olive oil”, it’s because we produce such a small quantity of oil that we don’t feel it’s really necessary to get it professionally tasted and scored to determine it’s “extra virginity”. Read more about what it means to produce Extra Virgin California Olive Oil here from the California Olive Oil Council! Regardless, our olive oil is free of additives, is not blended with any other oils, and is made only from olives that we grow on our farm. Harvest date is on the bottom!
Please don’t be mad at us if we sell out before you are able to place an order. We’re sad there isn’t more to go around, too. If you are looking for other really great California olive oil, check out Fat Gold or ENZO Olive Oil. Both of these companies are owned by people we know and think are great and are olive oils we use at home too!
Travel Tips from Visit California
If you happen to be traveling around California this year, look for a copy of Visit California’s Best of California Magazine! There’s a familiar face on page 68 and some of our favorite places to visit in the valley!
What We're Cooking
- It’s going to be cold and rainy next week (with another chance of snow?) so I’m bound to make a big pot of soup, or some kind of braised meat that will warm up the house. Or maybe a pan of Shakshuka with some crispy bread!
