The spring was wetter than usual last year, and our trees responded with an especially good crop. Harvest is over and the mill equipment is already stored away until next year. We’ve tasted all the daily batches of oil, selected the barrels for the Mistral, Sierra, and Gold Series mono-varietals, blended, and sent the oils out for Extra Virgin certification. Now, we are gearing up for bottling so that the new oils will be ready to ship as soon as possible, early in March.

We still have the Mistral, Sierra, and the Coratina from the December 2016 harvest available. They have mellowed just a bit with the same nice spiciness and bitterness from the antioxidants. Since the level of polyphenols is so high to begin with in our oils, they only reduce about 5% a year and continue to protect the oil itself, just like they do for our bodies.

Harvest Video and Pictures

We’re happy to share a few pictures from this year’s harvest, as well as a little video here.

It has been a hot summer here in Northern California. This has caused the development of the olives to be several weeks behind but it looks like we had a good fruit set so we are hopeful for a bountiful harvest this year. Gianni and Diana have been out carefully pruning the trees in the hot sun. This helps even out the yield from year to year, keeps the tree healthy, and aids in preventing disease. They are also out setting the olive fly traps, thankfully, the fly is less of a problem this year than in years past. It is hard work but very rewarding, what more could you ask for?

We are very pleased to announce that the two flagship oils we always enter in competitions – the Sierra and the Mistral – both won gold medals at both the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition and at the California State Fair Olive Oil Competition. Soon, we’ll hear the results from the New York International Olive Oil Competition as well.

Our Gold Series mono-varietals also garnered highly respected praise in a small private tasting with Pier Paolo Arca, an internationally recognized olive oil expert and Panel Head for the Montiferru Olive Oil Competition in Sardinia Italy. He had come to California for the hard work of judging dozens of olive oils at the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition. After all that tasting, he remarked that our Aglandau stood out as among the finest he’d tasted here this year.

Each year at the end of the milling season, we taste every one of our 50-gallon barrels and select the best four barrels to be our limited release mono-varietal Gold Series oils. There’s not enough to enter in competitions, but you can know that they are the best of the best we produce. To learn more about these oils and to purchase visit www.apollooliveoil.com.

North Sierra Wine Trail

This spring’s annual North Sierra Wine Trail will be the weekend of April 22nd-23rd, 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 finest. Meet the real owners and wine makers for answers to all your questions. We’ll be there too, sampling our new oils and sharing our story! Visit www.northsierrawinetrail.com for more information, tickets, and trail maps.

Tip: We recommend checking out the lovely AirBnBs on the Oregon House/Dobbins end of the trail, for a restful mini-vacation out in the country.

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!

We all know the the olive tree supplies us with healthful olives during harvest but it is equally important in the simple everyday moments of the growing season. There is something very peaceful about a well maintained traditional olive orchard. Italian landscape architect, Alice Collantoni, says that olive trees have become the most requested tree for her country home designs. They are evergreens that provide shade all year long that require comparatively little maintenance. Their gnarled trunks seem to echo our own lives where we convert our daily struggles into a healthy beauty. We connect to the olive tree because it gives us so much in all areas of life and asks for very little. Experiencing the beauty of the olive tree is one of the many reasons why we love what we do.

Below is a small olive grove in the background used within a California xeriscape with manzanita, rosemary, and a ginko tree in the foreground.