We’re Obsessed With This Flavored Olive Oil
What’s the secret to CaliVirgin’s boldly flavored olive oil? We visited their Lodi tasting room to find out.
Have you ever walked down a grocery store aisle and randomly grabbed a bottle of olive oil off the shelf? Maybe you didn’t pay any attention to the brand or even where it was produced. After all, all olive oil basically tastes the same, right? Wrong! If you think all olive oil is created equally, you’ve obviously never tried CaliVirgin Olive Oil.
We met with Mike and Julie Coldani of CaliVirgin Olive Oil at their family’s beautiful olive oil tasting room and winery, hoping to learn the secret behind CaliVirgin’s wildly unique flavored olive oils. The best way to describe their flavored olive oil is “bold” – but in the best way. In fact, it’s almost unimaginable that they’ve managed to add so much flavor to such a tiny bottle.
In case you think we’re going off the deep end here, we aren’t the only ones who are obsessed. CaliVirgin Olive Oil is winning awards left and right. Their flavored olive oils were recently awarded Best in Show at the 2024 Central Coast Olive Oil Competition – for the second year in a row. In fact, CaliVirgin consistently medals in competitions, making them one of the most awarded olive oil producers in the Nation.
How the Coldani family got into the olive oil biz
Obviously, no one’s ever going to spill a family secret to a complete stranger. If we wanted to find out why their flavored olive oils are so delicious, we needed to get to know them a little first. Plus, their background might yield a few clues.
Mike and Julie shared that the Coldanis have been farming in the Lodi area for four generations. The family originally grew row crops, alfalfa hay and raised cattle. Around 2005, the Coldanis decided it made good sense to diversify into perennial crops. While Lodi is known for their winegrapes, which makes them seem like the most logical choice, the Coldanis had something different in mind. Mike had met with a friend in Northern California who was growing olives. He was intrigued by the idea of super high-density plantings and the ability to harvest by machine. “No one else in this area was really doing that,” he recalls, “and so I thought we’d give it a shot.”
The Coldanis planted their olive trees in 2005, and what they thought would be a hobby or an experiment quickly escalated into a thriving business. “It kind of took off and we jumped in with both feet,” Mike says with a smile.
Environmental sustainability goes hand in hand with economic sustainability
One of the things that originally appealed to Mike about growing olives was the fact that they are naturally sustainable. Olives require less water than many other crops. Additionally, there’s virtually no waste involved. For example, after the olives are pressed to create olive oil, the ground pit and olive meat are dried and then spread back into the orchard as fertilizer.
Mike recognizes that sustainability isn’t limited solely to environmental sustainability. The Coldanis also prioritize economic sustainability and enriching their surrounding community. “An important part of our business is also being economically stable,” Mike acknowledges, “That’s that way we can give back to the land. We can keep producing a great virgin olive oil product. You know, giving back to the community can only happen when our business is thriving. We can hire more employees – that part is so important to us. So, they go hand in hand and. We want to give back as much as we can and continue farming here for another hundred years -as long as our business can support it.”
Community enrichment and education
Another tenet of sustainability is finding ways to make your community a better place. Julie explains how the family works with local schools and businesses – not just providing donations, but educating people about how olive oil and locally grown produce are an important part of a healthy lifestyle. “We’re really proud of the things that we do in the community,” Julie states with a smile. “We work with many local school kitchens and also Lodi Unified School District to educate their staff and teams. They use all of our products in their kitchen.”
The Coldanis donate bottles of olive oil to Lodi school district families to encourage them to eat healthier over the summer. They also invite students to visit their facility and explore some of the career opportunities available within an ag-based business.
“Everything from packaging to bottling to processing so that they can see how a business actually runs – start to finish,” Julie notes.
Back to that family secret…(spoiler alert: it’s fresh California produce)
Now that Mike and Julie seemed a little more comfortable around us, we decided it was the perfect time to ask our million-dollar question: how do you infuse your olive oils with so much flavor? Turns out, their secret is a process called co-crushing (or co-milling). Mike reveals, “We make about 10 to 14 different flavored olive oils. And we do that by co-crushing fresh produce with the olives. It’s really been a niche for us and has helped us stand out in our community.”
Julie adds, “A lot of producers will add flavoring that allows you to make as much as you want throughout the year but it doesn’t have that true flavor of the produce. So co-crushing it, crushing the produce with the olives and extracting out that oil just gives you a really true flavor. And the fresh produce comes from local farmers throughout California.”
Ready to visit CaliVirgin? Here’s the scoop
So, are you ready to taste CaliVirgin’s spectacular co-crushed olive oils? While they may be a cult-favorite, they definitely aren’t the only attraction. In addition to their flavored olive oils, CaliVirgin also produces California extra virgin olive oils and CaliVines wine. Their spacious tasting room boasts a chic indoor space, well-stocked with CaliVines wine, CaliVirgin olive oils and other items that would make the perfect gift for the food-lover in your family. And the outdoor tasting area is kid and pet-friendly with live music every Sunday afternoon.
CaliVirgin also regularly hosts events. They offer special olive oil and wine pairings, host exclusive dinners, and even partner with local vendors on seasonal crafting nights. A perfect example is this October event when CaliVirgin teams up with Star Succulents to teach guests how to create pumpkin succulents.
There’s so much to do in Lodi!
If you’re planning a visit to CaliVirgin, why not make it a weekend? There’s so much to do in Lodi. Mike and Julie shared a few of their favorite things to do in their hometown, “If someone was spending a weekend in Lodi, we’d tell ’em to stop here at Cal Vines Winery and Olive Mill. After that, they should head into town. There’s almost a hundred wineries here in Lodi. Stop out of a few of them. Be sure to hit downtown, where there’s great local restaurants. Pop over to Lodi Lake and take a walk on the nature trail or jump in a kayak, and explore the Consumnes river. There’s lots to do here in Lodi, California.”
Article and photography by Hilary Rance.