THE NEW YORK TIMES
June 9, 1999

California Olive Oil: Promising
by Florence Fabricant

As the waiter at Babbo in Greenwich Village set a plate of sea bass before us, he offered a little extra olive oil, crisscrossing the fillets with a thin and aromatic stream of greenish gold. When I asked what this very Italian restaurant was pouring, the waiter replied, "Our house oil is DaVero, from California." The incident and the answer are a clear indication of just how far California olive oils have come in the last 10 years. A few brands not only can stand up to the best that Italy exports, in the judgment of discerning buyers in this country, but also command such dazzling prices that they are best used as a condiment, like that dainty drizzle over fish.

DaVero Dry Creek Valley, for instance, beat out the competition in a blind tasting in Italy in 1997. The oil, from Sonoma County, is fruity, robust and peppery in the Tuscan style, with delightful hints of artichoke sweetness. Quantities are limited, and a 12.7-ounce bottle is about $22 ($66 a liter). It is sold mainly in California.

Even the California oils sold in bulk and bottled under private labels for Fairway and Eli's Manhattan have improved and offer good value for those reluctant to spend more than $10 on a liter of oil destined for the saute pan. Fairway's is bold and grassy, as good as many imported in the same price range. Eli's, a warmer oil, is organic.

But the best California oils are generally like high-end Tuscan estate oils, for the porcini and truffle set. You'll find them in fancy food shops and mail order catalogues, but not in supermarkets. "My oil costs about $70 a gallon to make, before it's bottled," said Ridgely Evers, a successful Internet entrepreneur, who has invested millions to make DaVero over the last 11 years and now has 22 acres planted with 4,500 trees. "And that's not even taking my capital investment and the cost of the land into account."

Mr. Evers, who produces 500 cases a year, said that he would like to charge $30 a bottle for Davero but that $20 is all the market will bear. "And remember that, if someone likes your oil, it's not like wine," he added. "They may buy a bottle, but they're not going to run out and buy a case." The wine analagy is apt in other ways, though, not least because many of the better oil carry winery names. Just as the earliest California wines were often destined for jugs, the first olive oils were produced in bulk.