NATURAL FOOD PAIR: CALIFORNIA OLIVE OIL AND WINE

NATURAL FOOD PAIR: CALIFORNIA OLIVE OIL AND WINE

As a maker of California extra virgin olive oil, we tell people the Golden state makes more than great wine. We do, however, look to California's winemakers for inspiration and parallels. Olive oil and wine have plenty in common. Just like different wines are made from different grapes, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Sauvignon Blanc, different olive oils are made from different olives. Think Arbequina or Arbosana. We also must pay close attention to Mother Nature. Around the ranch these days, our trees are changing week by week. They recently completed their bloom and began shedding their flowers. As we slide into June, we'll see fruitlets of pollinated fruit begin to grow on all the olive varieties. Like grape growers, our ranch staff will be carefully monitoring the developing fruit to gauge the olive crop we'll have this fall. And our growers will be performing their spring cleanup, mowing tall grasses in the orchards so trees can drink up the water getting supplied to them during a critical growth period. We see California's olive oil revolution, in fact, much like the remarkable emergence of California's wine business in the 1970s - when Napa wines bested French wines at a Paris tasting. And when it comes to food, different olive oils - like wine - pair well with various dishes. John Ash, a California chef and wine guru, gives this advice for pairing wine and food - advice that could apply to olive oil. "Above all, (it) 'ain't rocket science,'" he says in Sid Goldstein's book, The Wine Lover's Cookbook (Chronicle Books, 1999). Ash also notes that wine (like olive oil) essentially is food. "At its simplest, it's just another element of flavor on the plate." Below are recipes that offer food and wine pairings - and olive oil pairings. And remember: Next time you're shopping for a California wine to pair with a meal, don't forget the California olive oil!

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