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5 of the Best Napa Olive Oil Tasting Tours
There are so many wonderful Napa Valley attractions right here in St. Helena, just minutes from The Wine Country Inn & Cottages . And many of them offer truly unique experiences, like Napa olive oil tastings and tours. A Napa Valley olive oil tasting can be a deviation from your traditional wine tastings. Try something new during your stay at The Wine Country Inn & Cottages ! Featuring a variety of curated blends to pair with bread and other dipping ingredients, an olive oil tasting in St. Helena will entice your taste buds and provide one-of-a-kind memories for years to come.
To experience a Napa Valley olive oil company, book our Experience Napa Valley package. You will enjoy private shuttle service to an olive oil tasting at Round Pond, blending experience at Paraduxx, and blind tasting with our partner Elizabeth Spencer! This one-of-a-kind experience also includes a gourmet picnic lunch from Dean & Deluca.
Napa Olive Oil Tasting Tours
Lucero Olive Oil, located on First Street in Napa, is one such place. Its new tasting room is a great place to experience and buy its artisan products, which include olive oils, as well as balsamic vinegar, table olives, tapenades and gourmet mustards. The Lucero family has been farming olives for more than 50 years and have developed several popular products, including their infused oils. The Tasting Room is open seven days a week.Several tasting rooms are in the Oxbow Market in Napa. This makes it easy for you to try several different olive oil producers within a few steps of each other.
The Olive Press has a tasting room at Oxbow Market where you can sample award-winning extra virgin olive oils, citrus crushed olive oils, dipping and infused olive oils, oil and balsamic combos, and more. Love what you taste? Take some home by the bottle or in bulk!
Napa Valley Olive Oil also has a tasting room in the Oxbow Market. This local company has been producing high-quality olive oils for more than 80 years and opened its new tasting room and shop in Napa in 2012.
Right here in St. Helena, you can sample products made by St. Helena Olive Oil Co. Located on Main Street in a historic building that once housed the Bank of Italy, the tasting room offers a bar-height counter where you can taste locally made olive oil, balsamic vinegar and more.
Round Pond Estate features an olive mill that is available for touring and tasting on Rutherford Road, just 13 minutes from The Wine Country Inn & Cottages . You will learn about olive cultivation, harvest, and artisan methods of olive oil production before a guided tour of the estate’s fresh oils and red wine vinegar blends.
What’s the Difference Between Virgin Olive Oil and Extra Virgin Olive Oil?
First of all, olives are a fruit, which you may not have known! According to TheKitchn.com, olive oil is graded according to its level of acidity or free oleic acid. The amount of free oleic acid in olive oil tells you the extent to which fat has broken down into fatty acids. EVOO has a low level of oleic acid and is considered an unrefined oil since it’s not treated with chemicals, heated or cooled. EVOO is more expensive than Virgin Olive Oil. It burns faster and at a lower temperature. EVOO is best used in salads and for dipping (our favorite!).No matter which olive oil you decide is your favorite, experiencing the tasting rooms and learning about the art of making olive oil will certainly be memorable … and delicious!
