Rancho Azul y Oro ~ Surviving the Dream

The 2015-16 Pendolino olives Seriously, what kind of bloggers are you?  You don't even have pictures of harvest on your website. Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before.  Being the boutique we are, we've been engaged in somehow getting that olive oil into a bottle, labels designed -- we get it, there still aren't pictures on the website, so here you go -- you're welcome!                                           The team starts out just as the sun begins to rise . . .  The olives begin to come in quickly and the sorting begins (not as quickly) . . .  The 2015-16 Arbequinas   The 2015-16 Pendolinos The olives are delivered to the mill and go in at sunset Our Estate Blend has been achieved and bottling began mid-January Only several hundred more bottles to go . . . 

There has been a great deal of discussion in the last two days about the "60 Minutes" show on fraudulent olive oil and the Agromafia .  Some of the big name Italian olive oil companies are involved, with possibly 80% of the Italian olive oil being exported to the U.S. being either mislabeled or not 100% olive oil -- let alone EVOO.  U.C. Davis published their findings on tests that they ran in April of 2011 and named the names of companies whose oils were tested.  You can read that report here . So what is a consumer to do?  Well, if you're a U.S. consumer, buy local and look for the California Olive Oil Council (COOC) certification seal.  What does that mean?  International, as well as U.S. standards, require that olive oil undergo a chemical analysis to meet minimum standards in order to be classified "extra virgin."  If those standards are met, that olive oil must be submitted to a tasting panel for sensory evaluation.  The panel consists of ...

One cannot help but enter the new year without some retrospection and thought about what worked and what did not work over the past year.  Our philosophy has never been one of grand resolutions but one of change.   What can we do to change?  What can we do to help implement change in others? After much thought, while shivering over an elegant glass of Chardonnay for the last sunset of the year, I began to think of my Grandfather, who was a farmer.  Have things changed in 100 years?  Definitely.  First off, I don't think he would have guessed that it would be his granddaughter carrying on the family tradition of farming.  I might not have guessed it 10 years ago, either, which led me to some goals toward which we can stretch: 1.)   Be open to exploring new paths , whether it is trying your first vegetable garden or taking a walk daily or envisioning a different life for yourself; 2.)   Embrace technology or try to use it differently in...