Food lovers buy it to enjoy the heightened color and flavor in some simple but traditional ways...a good loaf of rustic bread, sliced and grilled, then slathered with Katz Organic December's New Oil and lightly sprinkled with a pinch of good salt— this is always our first taste - as it is in Italy with olio nuovo and olio novello.

THE KATZ STORY
Our culinary lineage spans the last 30 years. It began when we opened a restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area, at a time when cooking local, seasonal, farm-fresh foods was in its infancy. This was a vibrant and creative period and we spent that first decade "behind the kitchen line" learning that the quality of the ingredients makes all the difference.

Later down the road as we created those ingredients, our mission became simple: to produce genuine and authentic foods with integrity and in a traditional manner that nurtures the soul and satisfies the palate.

ABOUT THE PRODUCT
Organic Katz December's New Oil Produced Using Sustainable Farming
All of the fruit for our Organic Katz December's New Oil is grown in the Suisun Valley, bordered on its northwestern flank by the Napa Valley. This historic, active agricultural region since the 19th century is a recognized appellation for wine grapes. Here lies Rock Hill Ranch with soils that are loamy... full of sand and clay... an ideal mix for growing olives. The hills surrounding the valley are full of compacted volcanic ash called tuff or tuffo, in Italian. These are the same soil conditions that the Tuscans claim are responsible for making it the "best" region for growing olives (a claim we can now make for the Suisun Valley!).

Katz December's New Oil is CCOF Certified Organic. We are proud to have made this commitment as it fulfills our long time support of organic farming. All of our olives are handpicked and delivered to the mill and pressed within 24 hours. A two-phase press is used without any additional heat (often some heat in the form of hot water is used to increase yields), thus making all of our oils cold-pressed in the truest sense of the word.

Organic Katz December's New Oil is produced at the beginning of the harvest. This amazingly flavorful oil comes from the olives harvested at our Rock Hill Ranch in early November. The varieties are planted across several groves, and when the olives are ready, the clock starts running.

The harvest usually begins with the Allegra variety and then proceeds to the Taggiasca and Casaliva. Halfway through picking these two varieties, the Leccino is usually ready to pick. We then pick the Frantoio and Maurino before going back to pick the remaining Taggiasca and Casalivo - the entire harvest takes over a month.

The olives are segregated by variety and trucked soon after they are picked to the olive mill for crushing and pressing. The individual barrels of oil are allowed a short initial settling period, and then they are tasted to determine which will be best to craft our December's New Oil.

ABOUT THE TASTE
Unlike some producers, we are not interested in creating a one-dimensional oil that is just bitter grass from start to finish. We are look for a bold color and flavor, but also a rounder, more enjoyable experience that balances the best characteristics of the early lots. Selected early barrels of Taggiasca, Casalivo, Allegra, and Leccino make up the final elixir - the beauty of fresh oil...with a lush, green fruit taste, a pleasant, viscous mouth-feel, and a pungency - the pepperiness in the back of your throat that makes you cough - that announces that it is fresh, new oil.

This oil proudly bears the California— Your assurance that this is an Authentic, high-quality, 100% California extra virgin olive oil.