Sciabica and Sons Tour
On September 11, 2009, CUESA led a tour of Sciabica Olive Oil.
All olives start out green and turn black when they're ripe. Most are cured while green. You can get more oil out of the olives if you heat them, but Sciabica does only cold-pressings of their olives.
We watched a video of the pressing process, which will start in fall with the first harvest. Sciabica uses a centrifuge to cold-press the oil. Other olive oil manufacturers produce more oil (but of diminished quality) by adding heat or chemically extracting the oil with hexane.
They also grow prickly pears at the edge of the orchard.
The olive trees have one major pest: something called the olive fly. It arrived in California around 15 years ago and lays its eggs in the fruit. The orchardist at Sciabica has found a non-toxic way to control the flies.
Olive trees reach their peak at 100 years and can live to be thousands of years old. These young trees grow on a slope and are harvested by hand for Sciabica's estate blend.
The family plants pomegranates along the edges of the olive rows.
Olive trees are pruned very far back every other year (the new branches make the best olives).
After the tasting we got a quick tour of the olive orchard behind the Sciabica family home.
After the shelling plant we drove to Modesto, where Sciabica's (pronounced Sha-bee-ka) has their olive oil gift shop and tasting room.
Grandpa Joseph Sciabica, who started the farm in 1936, pointed out his favorite varieties.
We also learned about fall pressings (which create a fruity, thicker oil) and spring pressings (which create a lighter, sweeter oil).
We tasted six kinds of olive oil, including several of their varietals and three flavored oils. Sciabica is known for their varietal oils, which utilize a single olive variety instead of blending multiple types. The flavored oils are made not by adding oils or extracts, but by crushing lemons, basil, or garlic right along with the olives.
We were treated to a talk and tasting by Jonathan Sciabica, whose grandfather founded the company. We also met Jonathan's father and uncle, both of whom are involved in the business.
