Touring Northern California Olive Oil Country

If you've had a little too much to drink in Napa and Sonoma wine country, here's a good way to moderate your buzz: seek out olive oil tastings. Give your palate a break from all those tannins you're guzzling from $50 bottles of Cabernet. With just a smidge of planning, you can seek out not one, but two, culinary delights: wine AND olive oil.

My wife and I spent part of almost every day finding places that made and sold their own olive oil. Here's a map of the spots we found:


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Some were on gorgeous estates filled with vineyards and olive orchards; others were unique and eclectic storefronts that sold the product made from orchards in the area. Of course, most of these oils are not bargains -- these are from Napa and Sonoma, afterall. But they represent a growing olive oil culture in California, particularly in regions known for producing high-end gourmet products. And it's gotten big enough for us visitors to start making these places destinations unto themselves.

Below is a list of all the places we visited and bought olive oil from, with a quick note about each experience. In subsequent posts, I plan to write more about each of the locations, and provide tasting notes/reviews of their oil. (Yes, I know...we missed a couple of well-known places, such as McEvoy Ranch, in Petaluma. But we called there and they said they had stopped giving tours to the public for the season. Oh well.) So, without further ado, here are the spots you should check out:

B R Cohn Olive Oil Co.
15000 Sonoma Hwy
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
(707) 933-9675
* A picturesque estate, complete with vineyards and olive trees, in Sonoma County. We didn't taste the wines, but went straight for the olive oil. They were good, particularly the unfiltered one.


Figone's
14301 Arnold Dr
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
(707) 939-8900
* Mr. Figone is a hard-working man in the Northern California olive oil business. This is his first retail shop, in the eclectic town of Glen Ellen, but he's been making olive oil for himself and for others for many years, including BR Cohn. You can see his olive press behind big windows in the store, and can taste all the olive he makes.


St. Helena Olive Oil Co.
1351 Main St
St Helena, CA 94574
(707) 968-9260
* One of two shops in the area, where you can literally taste EVERY product sold in the store, from olive oils to vinegars, to marinades. Most unique product I tasted: a jalapeno-infused olive oil. Hot stuff!


Vincent Arroyo Winery
2361 Greenwood Ave
Calistoga, CA 94515
(707) 942-9231
* An understated winery with an excellent reputation and a friendly, personable tour of its winemaking operations. They make olive oil from trees on their property, but also from friends' trees in their area. They sell it under two different labels.


Long Meadow Ranch Winery
1775 Whitehall Ln
St Helena, CA 94574
(707) 963-4555
* A stunning organic farming operation set on a sloping mountainside along western Napa Valley. They make their own wines, which were surprisingly good and reasonably priced, as well as olive oil. They even raise their own grass-fed beef. With one visit here, you can leave with bottles of wine and olive oil, plus top-quality beef. What's not to love?


The Olive Press (next to Jacuzzi Family Winery)
24724 Arnold Dr # B
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 939-8900
*Wonderful shop, with a view of the olive press, and lots of California olive oil (not just their own) and related products, such as cookbooks and utensils and kitchenware carved from gorgeous olive tree wood. The shop is located within a wing of the Jacuzzi Family Winery, which has some great wine selections. A must-visit in Sonoma, if you like both olive oil and wine.


Olivier Olive Oil
1375 Main Street
St Helena, CA 94574
(707) 967-8500
* This store is just a few shops up from one of St. Helena Olive Oil's shops. It has olive oil on tap! Using little paper cups, you can taste several different types of oil, and buy a fresh bottle on the spot. It also has a big selection of kitchen items and gourmet food products.


Round Pond Olive Mill
886 Rutherford Rd
Rutherford, CA 94573
(707) 963-7555
* An elegant tasting experience. If you want a sit-down olive oil tasting experience in the heart of Napa Valley, this is where you need to come. A Round Pond olive oil expert will give you a tour of their olive mill, show you the trees, and guide you through a tasting of Round Pond's oils, vinegars and syrups.