If you are familiar with wine tastings, you know the drill. Visit a beautiful vineyard, sample various white and red and maybe blush varieties, and see how they pair with crusty bread and aged cheeses. However, you may not know that you can visit a central coast California olive farm and do the same thing, only what you'll be sampling is delicious Tuscan style or Italian blend olive oil.
For those of us not versed in judging extra virgin olive oils, visiting a grower may be the best first step. You can read about 'bold and assertive' and 'peppery' flavors, but these terms don't tell the inexperienced much. A visit to one of the family-owned and operated groves can also be a highlight to a trip to the Golden State.
There are many small, family owned and operated groves in the region. These groves generally have a variety of cultivars (plant varieties), which many authorities say is the best way to grow olives. All work is done by hand, in contrast to the practices of larger, mechanized operations. Hand-harvesting is regarded by many as the best way to produce premium table olives and oil.
Both ripe and green fruit is used to enhance the flavor, which is said to be so far above 'supermarket plonk' that novices may not recognize it as the same product. These artisan farmers take great pride in the oils they produce and look down on the imported oils many consumers take on faith as both healthy and tasty.
These farmers sell extra virgin oils, often with a certification from an organic organization or from the California Olive Growers Council. These standards are much higher than international ones which govern the oils imported into the United States. The Council subjects each harvest to chemical tests, followed by blind taste tests conducted by their panel of trained judges. Only oils which are judged to be fresh, pure, and superior in flavor are awarded the seal.
California farmers are proud of their oils with good reason. Since 1900, when a California product won the highest honors at the Paris exposition, no one can deny that the Golden State is suitable for olives. Many of the trees growing in California today come from Tuscan stock, but some growers treasure descendants of trees that were planted at missions founded by Spanish monks before the region was a state.
Olives can only grow in dry, sunny, hot climates where winters are mild. For this reason, they are often grown along a southern seacoast. They need limestone soils that are well-drained and not too rich, which makes for sickly trees. When they are happy, they live for hundreds if not thousands of years. Fortunately, the Golden State has the 'terroir', or environment, to allow olives to flourish.
Visiting the central coast farms is just one more thing to do on the fabulous western coast of the United States. Even those of us who can't go there can enjoy the the artisan growers' handcrafted oils. Some farms also produce wine vinegar and wine. Enjoy!
For those of us not versed in judging extra virgin olive oils, visiting a grower may be the best first step. You can read about 'bold and assertive' and 'peppery' flavors, but these terms don't tell the inexperienced much. A visit to one of the family-owned and operated groves can also be a highlight to a trip to the Golden State.
There are many small, family owned and operated groves in the region. These groves generally have a variety of cultivars (plant varieties), which many authorities say is the best way to grow olives. All work is done by hand, in contrast to the practices of larger, mechanized operations. Hand-harvesting is regarded by many as the best way to produce premium table olives and oil.
Both ripe and green fruit is used to enhance the flavor, which is said to be so far above 'supermarket plonk' that novices may not recognize it as the same product. These artisan farmers take great pride in the oils they produce and look down on the imported oils many consumers take on faith as both healthy and tasty.
These farmers sell extra virgin oils, often with a certification from an organic organization or from the California Olive Growers Council. These standards are much higher than international ones which govern the oils imported into the United States. The Council subjects each harvest to chemical tests, followed by blind taste tests conducted by their panel of trained judges. Only oils which are judged to be fresh, pure, and superior in flavor are awarded the seal.
California farmers are proud of their oils with good reason. Since 1900, when a California product won the highest honors at the Paris exposition, no one can deny that the Golden State is suitable for olives. Many of the trees growing in California today come from Tuscan stock, but some growers treasure descendants of trees that were planted at missions founded by Spanish monks before the region was a state.
Olives can only grow in dry, sunny, hot climates where winters are mild. For this reason, they are often grown along a southern seacoast. They need limestone soils that are well-drained and not too rich, which makes for sickly trees. When they are happy, they live for hundreds if not thousands of years. Fortunately, the Golden State has the 'terroir', or environment, to allow olives to flourish.
Visiting the central coast farms is just one more thing to do on the fabulous western coast of the United States. Even those of us who can't go there can enjoy the the artisan growers' handcrafted oils. Some farms also produce wine vinegar and wine. Enjoy!
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