Famiglia Vicini
The family Vicini, John and Tony are the quintessential of olive culture romance. With only one hundred trees scattered throughout locations in Bennett Valley, and plans for cultivating another two hundred of Tuscan variety on their property in Windsor, Vicini Grove offers a high quality olive oil which is pressed in Mill Valley's Frantoio Restaurant at the rate of about $350/tons. At Frantoio, the olives are traditionally pressed. After a cool water rinse, they are crushed beneath enormous granite stones, a forty-minute affair. The olive paste is briefly mixed to hasten the separation of oil from vegetable matter after which the paste is spread on nylon mats, stacked and slowly pressed. Oil and vegetable water flow down the sides of the stacked mats, are pumped into a centrifuge which completes the separation.
The yield for their 100 olive trees will be approximately 1,300 lbs. of olives which will translate into 22 gallons of olive oil or 200 half liter bottles. The newly planted varieties will be Tucson style — Frantorio, Maurolino, Pendolino and Leccino.

Staglin Family
The Staglin Family Vineyard produced about 7000 cases of wine, Cabernet and Chardonnay this year and 1000 - 375ml. bottles of olive oil from the Mission, Redding, Picholine, and Manzanilla, Uvaria and Columela varietals. Their boutique olive oil business showcases in Neiman Marcus. Having purchased 14 one-hundred-year-old trees from the Oroville area as perimeter landscaping for their property in Rutherford, the Staglin's decided to try their hands at olive oil production. With their success and enthusiasm they have plans to expand their plantings and their investment in the California olive culture.

DeVero
Reverse engineering fueled the vision of Colleen McGlynn and her husband, Ridgely Evers. Challenging the notion that the older the tree the better the olive oil, the couple searched Europe for a climate and regional cuisine similar to Sonoma County. In Lucca, Italy, on an 800 year, old estate they discovered a match and an amazing quality of olive oil. Evers convinced the owners to allow him take cuttings back to Healdsburg where he replicated the exact blend of varieties grown on the Lucca estate. With proportions of 50% Leccino, 25% Frantoio, 15% Maurino and 10% Pendolino the crop began its six year development. McGlynn says, "Our first harvest was in 1994. We made 25 gallons that year."

Evers and McGlynn take their olives to the custom press at Frantoio in Mill Valley where the end result is distinctive, rich and full-flavored with notes of pepper and fennel and a slightly bitter-green finish. "The flavor profile is right where we want it." says former chef, McGlynn DaVero was the first American oil to receive the legal label, Extra Virgin, from the International Olive Oil Council, and after winning a superlative rating in a tasting contest held Perugia, Italy against French and Italian oils, Europe's seasoned experts declared Davero to be "davvero," in Italian "The real thing.''