Category Archives: Apollo Olive Oil

Introducing Miller’s Favorite

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Introducing Miller’s Favorite

This year we introduced a new offering to our Gold Series category called Miller’s Favorite. This oil is a traditional Tuscan oil made from the Frantoio, Leccino, and Moraiolo olives. As the name states this was our favorite oil this year. It is a robust oil with strong pungency and medium bitterness. Its fruity overtones include hints of artichoke, cinnamon, green almond and green tea. Not everybody can taste these overtones but they add a complexity that make this oil particularly satisfying that everybody can enjoy. We made a very small batch of this oil and we will probably run our before December.

One happy customer’s review of the Miller’s Favorite

The best olive oil in America
I’ve sampled countless olive oils from around the world. This and the rest of Apollo’s lineup are the pinnacle of olive oil production. Every attribute about it is perfect. It is green, pungent, and hosts a depth of flavors. It makes the majority of other olive oils taste like seed oil. The only other oil I’ve had that comes close is the oil I sampled from a micro producer in Central Italy using ancient Roman trees. I can say without any reservation that Apollo makes the best olive oil in America.
Gordon B.

Recipe Co

Apollo Receives Award of Excellence

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We’re pleased to share the news we received on March 21, 2019:

Subject: CONGRATULATIONS

“Congratulations Apollo Olive Oil has been awarded The Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Award of Excellence given in honor of our 20th Anniversary Celebration.  This award is given to producers who have achieved excellence in the production of olive oil and have received a Gold Medal Award or Silver Medal Award in 10 or more Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competitions. 

We are truly grateful to you for your support and want to congratulate you on your dedication and passion to produce high quality oils of outstanding taste, character and complexity.  We are honored to have your oils in the Los Angeles International Competition for ten years and more and have done our best to promote and showcase your oils.  Apollo Olive Oil has received a Silver Medal or better in all 20 of our competitions – we so appreciate your support.”

2018 Oils Are Now Available

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Our New Oils Are Available Now

Harvested and milled in December 2018, the new oils are in the bottle and ready early this year. This olive harvest was challenging all over Northern California, with no crop worth picking in many areas. The wide-spread cause seemed to be a late frost that damaged the immature flower buds. Fortunately, most of our hillside orchards escaped the worst, but the harvest costs were significantly higher. Although the price of our oils has been stable for nearly a decade, costs have been steadily increasing for the last 6 years. This year however, we’re compelled to raise the prices 10%. Fortunately, you’ll find that they are still at or below the usual price for high quality, organic extra virgin olive oil.

Even though it was a tough year, we’re thankful that the new oils meet the same excellent quality standard that Apollo is renowned for. In fact, one barrel was so nice, Gianni called it the “Miller’s Favorite” and we added it to the Gold Series. The supplies are very limited, so if you’re interested, be sure to order it early.

Holiday Special!

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Holiday Special!

With Apollo Olive Oil, you can send gifts by entering your good wishes in the message box during the checkout process and we will send your gift with a nicely printed card in our standard 100% recyclable packaging.

Now, in keeping with our Holiday tradition, when you place an order over $100 just enter the SUPERSAVER coupon code for a 15% discount. That’s a perfect way to stock your pantry AND do your holiday shopping.

Our gift to you: A 15% savings PLUS free shipping on any order over $100 by using the coupon code SUPERSAVER.

Good from Today through New Year’s Eve!

Harvest is Here!

Harvest has begun and it will come to a conclusion at the end of December.  We blend our oils in January, then we bottle in February and the new oil is available in March.

 

 

Harvest is Here

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Harvest is Here

Harvest has begun and it is a busy and exciting time. Many Califonia growers are reporting very low crop levels. Even though olive trees have a tendency to alternate between low and high crop levels year to year, this year is worse than normal. The reason seems to be a warm February followed by a March frost that caused the trees to drop the flowers that turn to fruit. This primarily happened in the valley region. Since we are at a 2000 foot elevation we were not as affected. We are trying hard to not let this act of nature decrease supply or raise prices. We care for our own trees and also buy olives from local farmers and some of them seem to have scraped by. We will not know until harvest is done in December but we are very hopeful.

Book Excerpt

“The Predimed (Prevencion con Dieta Mediterranea) Study, Based in Spain, has changed the way we look at health benefits of extra virgin olive oil in the Mediterranean Diet. … The groups on the Mediterranean Diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil and with nuts saw a 30 per cent reduction in rates of heart disease.” From the book,The Olive Oil Diet by Dr. Simon Poole and Judy Ridgway

Join Us For This Year’s Harvest Festivals

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18th Annual North Yuba Harvest Festival

Once again we are proud to be a vendor at this year’s harvest festival on Saturday, October 6th, 10am to 5pm. It will be held at the Alcouffe Community Center at 9185 Marysville Rd., Oregon House, CA 95962. This is the biggest food and wine event in the North Yuba foothills.

North Yuba has received international recognition as a premium wine and olive oil region with local producers garnering coveted medals at major state, national and international competitions.

There will be over 40 vendors this year, including food stalls offering everything from haute cuisine to hot dogs, arts & crafts, antiques, Farmers Market, coffee bistro, and live musical entertainment. Ample children’s activities guarantee a day of family fun. All proceeds benefit the Alcouffe Community Center.

North Yuba offers a welcome retreat from urban life, we encourage you to check out the lovely AirBnB’s to make this a restful country weekend as well.

Mission San Jose  Olive Oil Festival

Saturday & Sunday, October 6 & 7, 2018, 10 am – 5 pm
Join Gianni and Diana Stefanini, owners and millers of Apollo Olive Oil, in the Dominican Sisters of MSJ Olive Grove, behind the Historic Old Mission San Jose!

Many olive oil vendors, live music, arts and crafts, great food, and activities for the kids. This is the premier event in the Mission San Jose district!

Apollo Olive Oils Are Now Triple Certified

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Apollo Olive Oils are now triple certified!

Besides our two long-held certifications – from CCOF, that our orchards, mill, and oils are all managed organically, and from COOC, that our olive oils are really Extra Virgin, by both analysis and taste – Apollo Olive Oil easily passed the nutrient analyses and met all the newly published R.A.W. Standards as well.

You can rest assured that Apollo Olive Oil is organic, extra virgin AND:

“Real” – That is, safe from many angles – non-GMO, organic, our production standards and practices, the oil analysis, and with the harvest and milling date on the label (so you can always know the oil’s ‘best by date’ – two years from production for all olive oils).

“Alive” – That is, with a high amount of bio-available enzymes in the currently available oils.

“Whole” – That is, minimally processed (never cooked, never warmer than 80° F), organic and with a high nutrient-per-calorie density (how “rich” it is in various vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients).

Hand Harvesting Produces Higher Quality

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New Study Reveals the Benefits of Hand Harvesting

A new research study from Namık Kemal University in Turkey concluded that hand harvesting results in higher quality olive oil. We have known this since we started but it is nice to get scientific confirmation. They studied six different harvesting methods including the popular pole beating method. The pole beating method is often called hand harvesting but it really is not. This method is very common in our area. It is where you spread mats on the ground and beat the trees with a pole and the olives fall to the mats and then the olives are collected. The only true hand harvesting method is when you pick the olives off the trees by hand and place them in a belly bucket. This is more laborious, and the pickers charge a lot more for this kind of picking but we feel very strongly this is the only way to go.

The researchers concluded that the mechanized methods of picking including the pole beating method bruise the olives and prematurely begin the process of oxidation. This also agrees with all our experimentation. Oddly, the researchers feel that this explanation may be an over simplification and more research is needed. However, the conclusion for us is self-evident, more care in every step of the process produces the highest quality. Read more about the study at the Olive Oil TImes.

And the Gold medals keep coming!

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And the Gold medals keep coming!

After the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition results we reported last month (where the Mistral was judged Best of Class), both the Mistral and Sierra won Gold medals at the California State Fair Olive Oil Competition. Now, we’re eagerly awaiting the results of the New York International Olive Oil Competition, which will come out very soon.

As you may realize, our Gold Series mono-varietal oils are really ‘limited release’ specialties – there’s not enough to send to the competitions.  You can know though, that we select them as the best-of-the-best we produce. To learn more about these oils and to purchase, visit www.apollooliveoil.com.

Now Available – The new Salúte

With the bottling of the new oil, we upgraded the packaging to our elegant new bottle.  The opaque label excludes light (preventing rapid photo-oxidation), thereby allowing you to keep the bottle handy on your kitchen counter.  This 375 ml size is available for $14.95.

The new oil is also available now in the 1.32 gallon Salúte box.

Upcoming North Sierra Wine Trail

This spring’s annual event will be the weekend of April 28th-29th, from 12 to 5 pm.  Experience 12 boutique wineries nestled in our little stretch of the Sierra foothills between Oroville and Dobbins. Taste small batch artisan wine making at its best. Meet the real owners and wine makers for answers to all your questions. Visit www.northsierrawinetrail.com for more information, tickets, and trail maps.

We’ll be there too, with our three local Oregon House wineries, sampling our new oils and sharing our story at the Frenchtown Inn.

Tip: You can make a restful mini-vacation for yourselves out of the event by checking out the lovely AirBnBs on the Oregon House/Dobbins end of the trail.

Our New Oils Are Now Available

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We are very pleased with how harmonious all our oils turned out this year. We were able to achieve high antioxidant levels while still maintaining a nice balance between pungency and fruitiness.

Our Mistral has a nice, light intensity, making it deliciously French in style. The Sierra has its usual lively intensity coming from the California mission variety. The Mistral won a Gold medal and Best of Class in the LA International Olive Oil Competition this year. The Sierra won a Silver medal.

Our Gold Series offerings are the same as last year: A Tunisian variety, Barouni, two French varieties, Aglandau and Grossane; and an Italian variety, Coratina. All these varieties do very well growing in the Mediterranean style climate of California.

We still have last year’s Sierra on sale at $16.95. It is still tasting very fresh while having mellowed a little bit.

This year’s Economy offering, Salúte, is not yet ready. We expect it to be available in April. However, last year’s is still in stock which can be purchased on our web site.