This week UC Davis is holding its 2nd International Conference on excellence in olive oil entitled Beyond Extra Virgin 2009. Participants include olive oil producers, researchers and enthusiasts from the United States, Italy, Australia, Greece and Spain. As some of you might know, last year U. C. Davis inaugurated the Olive Center, the only academic center of its kind in North America. The event is also sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and the Culinary Institute of America.

What an exciting opportunity it is to learn from such a vast talent pool of researchers, academicians, professional oil tasters, oil marketing executives and dedicated chefs. It shows the great dedication and passion out there in the world to produce super premium extra virgin olive oil. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of my favorite talks and discussions.

Dr. Claudio Peri, President of TRE-E is someone whom I have followed and stayed in contact with since the first Beyond Extra Virgin Conference two years ago. Accademia dei Georgofili/TRE-E founded in Italy is an organization that is gaining appeal in California and embodies three core principles: Ethics, Excellence and Economy. In his talks, Dr. Peri emphasized that in order to produce Super Premium olive oil, we must be able to address critical control points of quality from cultivation through distribution. This includes timing of the harvest, i.e. precise monitoring of fruit ripening. In addition to paying close attention to every detail of the milling process, one must also take great care in the storage and handling of the oil. As I begin to fully understand the goals of this organization and perhaps becoming a member, distribution appears to be one of the greatest challenges. It is easy to control distribution if you are delivering the oil directly to the consumer at a farmer’s market or if they buy through your website or at your facility. However, once a producer sells to a retailer, the product is no longer under his control. Tomorrow, there will be TRE-E member and potential member meeting at the Robert Mondavi Center. I’m sure it will be quite a lively discussion. I will keep you posted on the results.

Another highlight was the results of a consumer perception study conducted by Jean Xavier Guinard, U. C. Davis Professor of sensory science. From his study, it appears that many consumers prefer oils that are tropical, fruity and floral. Bitterness and pungency did not score very well and appear to be far from what consumers want. Interestingly enough, expert tasters’ liking in his study differed significantly. Is it because expert tasters know and understand that fruitiness, pungency and bitterness are the three positive attributes in olive oil? The results of this study confirm what we have found with many farmers’ market goers. Since they are used to tasting oil in food and not by itself, attributes such as pungency and bitterness completely take some by surprise. In the end, it is up to us the producers to continue the process of consumer education.

Oh, yes, it wasn’t all brain activity at this wonderful conference, we got to taste some absolutely delightful oils from cultivars already familiar to me such as the Tuscan varieties we grow, Hojiblanca, Arbequina, Koreiniki and Mission. We also tried and Australian oil produced I believe Picual and Barnea, an Israeli variety that I was not familiar with. The most interesting to me of all the oils we tried was an oil from a producer in Verona from the grignano olive. Its intense floral aroma really just absolutely lingered. Over the next few days, I hope to write more about the lessons learned this week; stay tuned.

Yvonne Hall