Over 50% of the Italian imported olive oils are not genuine extra virgin oils, meaning they are not necessarily extracted mechanically and they do not necessarily meet the international chemical standards. This isn’t meant to discourage you from buying Italian olive oils, but just to point out the fact that what’s best sometimes grows in your own backyard, in America’s case most often California when it comes to olive trees.
Yes, you may not have known this, but America grows its own olive trees and produces its own olive oil. Most of the American olive oil comes from California, the same region that sort of revolutionized the wine industry in the late 1970s.
Although it can’t claim the standards of Italian, Spanish or Greek olive oil production, the U.S. has definitely upped its game in the over 150 years since olive oil has been produced in the country, introducing businesses and brands that very well compete with Italy-imported brands, the gold-standard type of brands.
In time, organizations have been set up in the U.S. to regulate quality standards, and it is through these organizations that Americans can now get to know reputable olive oil brands from right here, from home.
And compared to the percentage of imported olive oils labeled extra virgin but not actually meeting the criteria, U.S. extra virgin olive oil meets and even exceeds standards in at least 95% of the entire production.
But enough theory. Here are five American companies that are credited with producing fine olive oils, possibly some of the finest in the world.
- Gold awarded organic olive oil company, Moonshadow Grove is certified by the California Olive Oil Council, which is one of the organizations that regulate industry standards in the U.S. Moonshadow Grove Miscela is one of the company’s best-selling products, with medium to strong robustness tasting notes.
- Frantoio Grove started as a small producing company in California. Their olive oils are sold at various farmers markets across California, but retail locations also include Whole Foods Market and some wineries. The Extra Virgin Frantoio Olive Oil was two times gold awarded, in 2014 and 2015, silver awarded in 2013, and it also received Best in Class award in 2016.
- Solana Farms is an estate where olive trees grow in the proximity of lavender and grapes, so this is a company that specializes in more than one type of product, but they are best known for producing premium olive oil. Solana Farm Tuscan Blend is a cold pressed olive oil awarded in 2016 with the gold medal in the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition and the New York International Olive Oil Competition.
- Pacific Sun Farms is a family owned business in Northern California. Like most family-owned businesses, they are passionate about what they do, which reflects on the quality of the oils they produce. Olives here are milled not a day later from the moment of harvest to retain aromas and to provide complexity and persistence to oils. Pacific Sun Farms is available at Raley’s stores, Tops Market and various other retailers.
Sanger Olive Oil Company is part of the Sanger Family of Wines, a long-time producer of American wines and as of 2014 of olive oils too. Of Italian heritage, the company produces olive oil the old fashioned way, hand harvesting and hand pressing the fruits for top quality results.