Olive Oil Primer

The people of Joëlle have fallen in love. We love the olives and the beautiful trees, nestled in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada and flourishing in the hot dry summers that characterize the growing fields of some of the best olive oil in the world.

Olive oil has an illustrious past, being used for medicinal as well as for epicurean purposes since before recorded history. It has long been part of Mediterranean civilization and was a highly valuable trade commodity for ancient Semitic peoples. In the early 1700s the Jesuits from Spain brought olives when they began their northern trek, founding missions first in Mexico, then Baja California. Later Franciscan padres founded the first of their California missions in San Diego. Olives were among the few fruits grown in these early mission settlements. The trees live to be hundreds of years old, so some of the trees seen at these mission sites today may well have been planted in the 1700s.

As with grapes, different olive cultivars produce different tastes and different times of harvest also produce distinctive flavors. Early harvest will be piquant and stronger in nature, late harvest will be more mild and golden. Please join us in this gastronomic adventure, enjoy this California grown extra virgin olive oil. It is a highly healthful food and an excellent and tasty substitute for other fats and oils.

Joëlle olive trees in the foothills of the Northern Sierra Nevada