 Food & Spirits: There is only one place you can get homemade red peach preserves, homegrown Lavender, extra virgin olive oil, Castile soaps and red wine all under one roof. DaVero Sonoma, located in the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, California is that one place. Most known for their rich extra virgin olive oil, Ridgely Evers and Colleen McGlynn have won over top chef around the world with their fine products. Chefs like Mario Batali of Babbo, Lupa, and Otto and Food Network fame ("Molto Mario" and "Mario Eats Italy"), who affectionately calls their olive oil the "golden green elixir."
So what's this "extra virgin" business?The answer isn't as interesting as you may have hoped. It means that the International Olive Oil Council (yes, there is such a thing) gives it their stamp of approval. Such approval means that oil was pressed, rather than chemically refined, and has an oleic acid level under 0.8 percent. Few quality producers bother to market any oil that isn't extra virgin. Also, the oil must taste good (what a novel concept!). DaVero, which means "the real thing," only produces the good stuff.
Over a decade ago the current owners imported trees to their farm in Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley from a 350-year-old Tuscan estate famous for its fabulous olive oil. Evers' and McGlynn's goal was to produce a California olive oil that could compete with the world's best. For good measure, they threw in a few other products to their line up including Estate Meyer Lemon Marmalade, Estate Satsuma Mandarin Marmalade, Meat & Poultry Herb Rub, True Castile Soaps. They even harvest Lavender de Provence and Lavender Grosso from their hillside in late June.
For LxM Amy Covington |
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