There is an ever-growing number of estate-grown olive oils featured in tasting rooms along the Wine Road, so I thought it was time to take a deeper look. Let’s go explore!
Mediterranean-like Climate
In Sonoma County, we’re blessed with wet winters and dry, warm summers, similar to Italy, Greece and Spain’s Mediterranean climate. These Mediterranean regions are renowned for historic olive groves and olive oil production.
We might not have the depth of documented agricultural history you’d find in Europe, but some of the olive trees in Sonoma County date back to the days when California was part of Mexico. The trees were planted when Spaniards given land grants in what is present day Sonoma County recognized the similarities in terrain and climate to their homeland.
Although Sonoma County has had olive trees for a couple of centuries, wineries started focusing on planting them and producing olive oil around the 1990s. Today, you can find many wineries who harvest their olives and sell their estate grown extra virgin olive oil in their tasting room and websites. These wineries are as passionate about their olive oil as they are about their wines.
Please note: whenever you read “olive oil” in this blog, it means “estate-grown extra virgin olive oil.”
Along the Wine Road, you can even find a winery — Trattore Farms & Winery — that also mills their own olives and also produces olive oil for other growers as well.
Dry Creek Olive Company
Trattore Farms & Winery has the same owners as Dry Creek Olive Company, Tim and Mary Louise Bucher, and they share the same tasting room. Their olive oil is both estate-grown and estate-produced. Mary Louise is a master miller, and oversees the milling of the olives harvested from the estate trees surrounding Trattore Farms.
When the Buchers purchased the land to create Trattore Farms, it came with some olive trees originally part of a 2000-acre olive orchard dating back to the 1850s. These trees inspired the Buchers to plant more trees, along with developing the land for their estate vineyards.
A visit to the Trattore Farms & Winery tasting room gives you two options to taste these estate olive oils. The Farm Flight Tasting Experience includes a selection of their wines, olive oils and balsamic vinegar paired with small bites. Or, if you want to just focus on olive oils, book a reservation for their curated olive oil tasting. They currently have 16 estate olive oils available for sale, which include options like Three Orchards Blend, Spanish Table, Italian Tavola, California Tuscan, and flavored olive oils like Sage or Garlic.
The Dry Creek Olive Company also offers milling services to olive tree owners in the area, including a community milling service for those with only a few trees. They also donate their milling services to the Farm to Pantry charity to create the No One Left Behind Olive Oil.
Taste the Terroir
With wine, a vineyard’s location influences the flavors we taste in the wines produced from that vineyard. We describe this phenomenon by using the French word terroir — the influences of soil type, climate and topography. Terroir can also help explain the different flavors in the same vegetable or fruit grown in different locations, or in this case, the different flavors in olive oil. Does olive oil from trees in Dry Creek Valley taste different from trees in Alexander Valley or Russian River Valley?
Below are more estate-grown olive oils, arranged by the wine appellation where they are grown. If you love olive oil, I’d recommend visiting these wineries and taking home their olive oil along with your favorite wines. Once home, invite over your friends and have a wine and olive oil tasting. Taste for yourself how terroir influences olive oil in the same way it does wine.
If you’re tasting olive oil from all three valleys, then try to have the same varietal, like Zinfandel, from all three valleys as well. It’s a fun way to eat, drink and educate your palates while having a great time!
Dry Creek Valley
Trattore Farms isn’t the only winery in Dry Creek Valley where you can find savory estate-grown olive oil. Here are six other options to explore.
Martorana Family Winery
Martorana Family Winery started producing olive oil in 1996 after acquiring a traditional press from Italy. Their olive oil is estate-grown, hand-harvested, pressed and produced by winemaker Gio Martorana. Gio took an educational journey to Italy and Spain to master the art of crafting the finest olive oil.
Martorana’s very limited olive oil production means their wine club members get first dibs on Gio’s delicious labor of love. If you want to try the Martorana olive oil, I’d recommend a visit to their tasting room. I heard the next bottling will be happening soon.
DaVero Farms & Winery
It seems only natural that DaVero Farms & Winery would produce their own olive oil. Their estate olive grove was started in 1988 with cuttings from an 800-plus year-old grove in the hills east of Lucca, Tuscany. Their first crop was harvested in 1994, with production significantly increasing by 1997. Today, their estate has over 4000 olive trees.
DaVero offers two tastings that include wine, olive oil and more, or you can opt to just enjoy an olive oil and vinegar tasting. All of their tastings allow you to tour their extensive gardens, and enjoy tasting in their tranquil setting.
Raymond Burr Vineyards
As you drive down West Dry Creek Road, you might be surprised to see a sign reading Raymond Burr Vineyards. Yes, that is the same Raymond Burr from the TV series Perry Mason and Ironside. The driveway leading to the tasting room is lined with olive trees, planted decades ago as Raymond Burr transformed the property to reflect his commitment to sustainable living.
The Raymond Burr estate-grown olive oil is produced at the Dry Creek Olive Company. They credit and thank Mary Louise Bucher for overseeing the milling and pressing of their exceptional olive oil.
The most recent vintage of their olive oil will soon be available online and in the tasting room. If you decide to visit Raymond Burr Vineyards, be sure to pack a picnic to enjoy their patio and wonderful views as you sip on their wines. Also take time to view all the memorabilia from Burr’s illustrious career that adorns the tasting room.
A. Rafanelli Winery
Winemaker Shelly Rafanelli reminded me that I’ve tasted the olives from the Rafanelli property, which has trees over 70 years old. Shelly’s mom, Patty picked and cured the olives even before the Rafanellis started producing their own olive oil. I remember going to an event at Rafanelli in the 1990s. One of the many, many tasty treats offered during this event were Patty’s home-cured olives using grandma’s recipe. They were outstanding.
In 2006, Dave Rafanelli, Shelly’s dad, planted both Spanish and Italian varietal olive trees. Today, the Rafanellis produce their olive oil from a mix of the newer and older trees. Most of their olive oil is sold to their List Members, but if you book at tasting at A. Rafanelli Winery, you might ask if they have any extra available for sale.
K&D Mercantile
At Dry Creek Vineyard, you’ll find their estate-grown olive oil under the name K&D Mercantile. K&D stands for Kim and Don Wallace, the second-generation owners of Dry Creek Vineyard. The olives come from the 169 estate planted olive trees, a mix of Spanish and Italian varietals. Kim and Don planned the trees to encourage biodiversity at the winery. And also, because they are passionate about the farm-to-table way of life, which includes their fine quality olive oil.
West Wines
Just minutes outside of Healdsburg on Dry Creek Road, you’ll find West Wines. Owner-winemaker Katarina Bonde explains, “We have a mix of newer and older olive trees high up on a ridge overlooking Dry Creek Valley. They grow next to our Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard.”
West olive oil is described as smooth and rich with a hint of white pepper, and it’s available at their tasting room and online.
Alexander Valley
Like Dry Creek Valley, much of Alexander Valley was once owned by Spaniards and other Europeans who were given the land as part of the Mexican land grant. You’ll still find a few very old olive trees among the newer plantings.
Jordan Winery
Jordan Winery’s focus is on exploring the marriage of flavors in wine and food, so it’s only natural they should have their own estate-grown olive oil. 1997 was their first vintage of estate-grown extra virgin olive oil, and they’ve been producing it ever since.
Jordan currently has about 16 hillside acres of Italian and Spanish olive tree varieties. This allows them to produce enough olive oil to share with their winery guests and have available for sale online. There are several tours and tastings available to visitors, and olive oil tasting is available with most of them.
Alexander Valley Vineyards
In 1998, the founder of Alexander Valley Vineyards, Hank Wetzel, started planting olive trees up the hill from the tasting room. The Wetzel family has continued to plant additional olive trees, so today there are hundreds planted across the estate, including six Italian varieties, three Spanish, and the classic California Mission variety.
In 2024 the Wetzels harvested over 8500 pounds of olives, which produced about 167 gallons of oil. Their olive crop is just another example of the Wetzel’s commitment to family farming. The olive oil is described as spicy and rich, with a hint of grassy notes. The Wetzel Estate Olive Oil is available in their tasting room or online.
Russian River Valley
A cooler growing region than either Dry Creek or Alexander Valleys, Russian River Valley offers several estate grown olive oils at tasting rooms along the Wine Road.
Hook & Ladder Winery
Hook & Ladder owners Cecil and Christine DeLoach source their olive oil from their family’s Los Amigos Ranch olive trees. The estate trees are a mix of mature California Mission trees planted in the early 1900s, along with one Spanish and four Italian varieties planted by the family.
The blend of heritage trees and new plantings, along with six varieties of olives, produces a richly flavored and beautifully colored olive oil. The Hook & Ladder olive oil is available through the tasting room and online.
Merriam Vineyards
Merriam Vineyards offers an estate olive oil blend of five Italian varieties that is also USDA organic certified. This delicious blend is available at their tasting room or online.
Bricoleur Vineyards
Almost 300 olive trees are planted across Bricoleur Vineyards’ 40-acre estate. As you walk to the tasting room or meander through the garden and grounds, you’ll see the four different olive varieties planted. There are three Italian varieties and one Spanish.
The olives are picked at optimal ripeness and blended together to create their luscious estate olive oil. The oil is described as having a buttery palate with notes of dried grass and Marcona almonds, a smooth finish and lingering hints of white pepper. It’s available at the tasting room and online.
Estate Grown Extra Virgin Olive Oil Galore
With so many quality olive oils along the Wine Road (not all available are listed), now is the perfect time to start learning about, collecting and enjoying this local culinary treat. Next time you’re planning your wine tasting outing, be sure to include a little olive oil exploration in your adventures.
Happy Sipping!
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- Tagged in: A. Rafanelli Winery, Alexander Valley, Alexander Valley Vineyards, Bricoleur Vineyards, DaVero Farms & Winery, Dry Creek Olive Company, Dry Creek Valley, Dry Creek Vineyard, estate grown extra virgin olive oil, estate grown olives, Hook & Ladder Winery, Jordan Winery, K&D Mercantile, Martorana Family Winery, Merriam Vineyards, olive trees, Raymond Burr Vineyards, Russian River Valley, terroir, Trattore Farms, West Wines, wine appellations,
