Kiler Ridge Olive Farm & Frantoio
While up in Atascadero California for a wedding, we happened upon Kiler Ridge Olive Farm & Frantoio and decided to take a quick lesson on Olives and Olive Oil.
Being not big drinkers, my wife and I always like to find some off the beaten path ideas and locations. Not the easiest to do up in the Paso Robles region of wine country in central California. Most of the must do’s revolved around wineries and tastings. Believe me, I’m not opposed to the occasional tasting, but there had to be more to do up there, and we found a little nugget.
The Location
Located in the central California wine region of Paso Robles, Kiler Ridge Olive Farm was pretty easy to find right off highway 101 just south of the city of Paso Robles.
The winding roads through the beautiful green hills brings you to the entrance of Kiler Ridge.
As you turn off the main road and up the windy driveway, you come to a big automatic gate. Once you pass through, be sure to wait for the gate to close behind you as to not let deer onto the property to eat the olives.
The Kiler Ridge Property
I don’t know the full specs of the property itself, but as we drove up we saw a large building which we found out is where the processing of the olives takes place. This is also the tasting room and gift shop.
As you pull into the parking area, you are greeted by probably the most friendly dog I have ever met. I forgot to snap a photo of the old guy, but he was awfully cute and sweet.
Looking around from the parking lot you have a gorgeous view of the surrounding hills and valleys.
You are surrounded by olive trees and vistas of gorgeous wineries. Of course, it is a great opportunity for snap a selfie.
The Tasting
As we walked the property and took pictures of olive tree’s and views, we walked into the gift shop and were promptly greeted by a very friendly lady. She asked if we had a reservation for the tasting. We did not, but she mentioned that one was just about to start and that she could sneak us in. We took her up on it and off we went.
We sat down and she explained that the owner would come over to introduce herself and explain the tasting. We were given a placemat sheet that listed a bunch of different olive oils as well as a small plate of apples that were given to cleanse your pallet between tastings.
The first thing they did was tell us the history of Olive Oil, and the term Extra Virgin. Apparently in the US there are no regulations on using this term.
Initially we were given a small sample of a mass produced “Extra Virgin” olive oil called Bertolli. We went through the basic steps of tasting the olive oil. First you warm it up in the cup between your hands. Second you sample the bouquet and smell the different scents that come from the slightly heated oil. Third you take a small sip of the oil. Unfortunately, this is what we all know as high quality extra virgin olive oil.
The Good Stuff!
Once we got through tasting the mass produced oil, we started to go through the same steps, one by one, on the smaller production olive oils that come from Kiler Ridge.
We went through each of the olive oils on the list, one by one, heating, smelling, and sampling each of them. Surprisingly, they each have a very distinctive flavor depending on the olive used.
I was surprised that even the scent was distinct from oil to oil.
Then once you pulled the scents from the oil, you were to take a small sip and sample it as if it was wine. Take it into your mouth, aerate it, and feel the peppery finish.
To top it all off, they offered a small sample of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt. This was Uber delicious!
Weekend Food at Kiler Ridge
After our Olive Oil tasting, we found out that we were lucky enough to be there on the weekend when the offered food. Their foods each feature food from their farm as well as a sampling of the olive oil mixed in.
We knew we were off to a wedding a couple of hours later, so we went fairly light and shared a couple of dishes.
We ordered up the Roasted Beets and Arugula salad. This salad was tossed with the Coratina Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which coincidentally was our favorite oil.
The salad had to feature three or four varieties of beets as well as some very flavorful cheese. Very highly recommended.
We also ordered the Carmelized Onion Wood-Fired Pizza. This pizza was drizzled with the Tuscan EVOO. Really incredible pizza that we couldn’t even finish.
This pizza was very flavorful and cheesy! It had Mozzarella and Gorgonzola cheeses and really sweet caramelized onions. Very good!
Conclusion
Overall, we are very glad that we happened upon Kiler Ridge Olive Farm. This was a great experience and we learned a lot about olives. We didn’t have the time to take the processing or farm tour, but we will next time for sure!
If you are looking for something a little off the beaten path, be sure to look up Kiler Ridge Olive Farm. Great food and great experience. For more information on Kiler Ridge, please click here.
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