With the climate similarity between California and the Mediterranean, I expected more crops in Napa suited to the Mediterranean. California produces the most pistachios in the world, right alongside Iran: 1 and 2 or 2 and 1, depending on the year. I know that California has gotten into the lavender game, as it should. The south of France is king but the California climate is equally suited.
But this piece is about olives, a crop I am astounded I didn't see more in Napa. Surely by this time they would have caught on to this opportunity, I thought. There were olive trees dotting the roads and olive trees flanking the edges of vineyards, but I didn’t see olive orchards anywhere, or large tracts devoted to olives.
As non-drinkers we didn’t even think to do several wine tastings a day. We thought we might do an olive oil tasting somewhere. But in searching for this it became clear pretty quickly that there were only one or two of these offered.
We found one in Rutherford, a tiny spot on the map between the two main roads. Round Pond is a winery, but the parents who started the place have left the making of wine to the kids, moving on to olives. There are only 16 acres of olives here, so the olive oil tasting included their balsamic vinegars.
We were lucky throughout the trip to have mostly private tastings. This group was four. We arrived at the processing facility, which was outdoors under roof. Breezes blew through, making it delightful the entire time.
Each party of two received a bowl of bread and a long dish with indentures allowing for about two tablespoons each of the oil. A separate long dish contained three balsamic vinegars and a pile of little sugar squares. We were instructed to taste the vinegars by dipping the sugar cube into each of them separately, and then tasting it.
But first we tasted the different olive oils, and before that we were shown the circular stones that crush the olives, and the equipment that is used for separating the good stuff from the detritus.
The oil in front of us was clear and beautiful, and each of them was infused with something. There was a Spanish-style, an Italian-style, one infused with garlic, and others flavored with basil, chiles, blood oranges, lemon pepper, and Meyer lemon. The balsamic vinegars were red wine and white wine.
To me the clear favorite of these was the basil. I also like the Spanish and Italian oils, preferably the Spanish. It’s hard not to be captivated by anything with even a hint of garlic. The chili oil was great too, but quite spicy. The flavor of black pepper came through very strongly in the lemon pepper, and it was too much for me. I love black pepper, but there is definitely a point for me where too much is too much.
The citrus oils were interesting. I loved the Meyer lemon one, but the blood orange was, to me, too sweet for an olive oil to be used in savory preparations.
Both of us were suspicious of the instructions for the balsamic vinegars. Since neither ML nor I are all that into sugar, the idea of biting into a sugar cube was borderline traumatic. But thank Heaven we did, because even with a mouthful of sugar these vinegars were actually painful. Maybe in 100 years they will be great, but geez. Maybe we should have blended the citrus oils with the balsamic vinegar and it would have been tolerable.
I wish we could have walked the grove, or the vineyards, but after the tasting we did get a close-up of the apparatus for making the oils.
None of it mattered. What thrilled us was sitting under roof letting the balmy breezes blow through, basking in the pleasure that rides on the wind in Napa Valley. Really.
