Did you know you can go Olive Oil tasting right here in the Bay Area? Well, you can! Love that!

People tend to equate our wine country with, well, wine! Of course, it is a world-class wine country, so there is nothing wrong with assuming it is all about wine, I mean, it kinda is! haha

Well, thankfully there is a fun activity you can do if you don’t drink, or if you want your kids to enjoy everything the Sonoma area has to offer. You can go olive oil tasting! Love!

First off, I love olive oil. I was taught at a young age to cook with olive oil, not cooking oils. When I fry food, I use olive oil, not cooking oil. Olive oil is also used in salads, foods, and more. I tend to have a light oil for cooking, and heavier one for recipes, dipping, and more. Olive oil is an integral part of the Mediterranean diet, plus it is yummy!

While there are several options for olive oil tasting in the Sonoma area, I chose to take my family to Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, home of the The Olive Press. This is one of my favorite local olive oils, so going olive oil tasting there seemed like the perfect option.

We booked our tasting ahead of time, which is the perfect way to enjoy olive oil tasting. Jacuzzi set up a special room for us where we had a private tasting and were able to ask questions and learn about both the winery and olive oil. It was so much fun!

We tasted five olive oils during our tasting. In addition, we were able to taste olive oils with vinegar from The Olive Press. It was really fun, and a great way to discover olive oil flavors I hadn’t considered before.

Our favorite olive oils were the Arbequina, Italian Blend, Blood Orange, and Basil. We really enjoyed the tasting and visiting the property.

You can day trip to Sonoma or stay locally. I recommend making an olive oil tasting online at TheOlivePress.com. They don’t serve food at the tasting, so you can always visit downtown Sonoma for a fabulous meal.

While this is a fun activity for the family, be sure your kids will actually taste olive oil from a shot glass. If your kids are too young, I would recommend waiting until they are older. For my high school and college aged kids, this was a great activity.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy