by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Feb 15, 2012 | General, Olive Oil Education, Olive Oil Standards, Olive Oil Tasting
January 2012 is likely to be remembered as a watershed month in the US olive oil industry. It seems that at long last, we can glimpse a light at the end of the tunnel. The catalyst for much of what happened was unquestionably Tom Mueller and his book Extra Virginity:...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Jan 11, 2012 | Language of Olive Oil, Olive Oil Education, Olive Oil Standards, Olive Oil Tasting
One of the problems faced by quality olive oil producers and their supporters is that a lot of time is spent preaching to the choir. We have conferences, symposia, seminars and short courses, with audiences consisting mostly of olive oil producers, an occasional chef,...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Nov 17, 2011 | General, Growing Olives, Language of Olive Oil
The olive oil world is being tempted to follow the wine world down the path of questionable language: it’s time to decide if that is an “olive varietal,” or an “olive variety.” This was brought to my attention by Mike Madison, Yolo County...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Nov 10, 2011 | Australia Trip Oct 2011, General, Olive Oil Standards
Where do we go from here?— Legal standards and chemistry were only part of the ground covered at the Australian Olive Association National Conference. A significant amount of time was devoted to the world of promotion and marketing, and how this informs the efforts at...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Nov 6, 2011 | Australia Trip Oct 2011, General, Olive Oil Standards
Where the Olive Oil Industry is Now, and How We Got Here— The theme of the Australian Olive Association’s (AOA) 2011 national conference, “Restoring Trust in the Trade of Olive Oil,” was a logical choice in the year that saw approval of a new olive oil standard in...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Oct 31, 2011 | Australia Trip Oct 2011, General, Growing Olives, Olive oil processing, Olive Oil Tasting
The Mornington Peninsula is like the Sonoma or Napa County of the Melbourne area. The landscape is lovely, and they produce first-rate wine, olive oil and other good things to eat. After our visit to the “big is beautiful” world of Boundary Bend, Dan...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Oct 19, 2011 | Australia Trip Oct 2011, General, Growing Olives, Olive Oil Tasting
My Western Australia olive oil rambles have had an Organic theme, starting to the east of Perth with a visit to the Avon Valley groves of Kailis Organic. This was my first drive in the Australian countryside; fortunately I was a passenger so I could safely enjoy the...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Oct 17, 2011 | Australia Trip Oct 2011, General
The best laid plans of mice and men… Ah, the internet age, the tyrannies of technology. At another time I will rail about the bait and switch nature of the cell phone (sure, you can use it almost anywhere, but you can’t hear what anyone is saying) but for...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Oct 11, 2011 | General
What have we here? An article that promises to reveal “The Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil.” Yay! Some help in the confusion of the supermarket olive oil aisle! Except for one thing: the observations in this article are often completely wrong… I know what I like...
by Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne | Oct 11, 2011 | General, Olive Oil Tasting
When a trained olive oil taste panel replicated a national magazine taste test comparing extra virgin olive oils, the results were very different. This 2007 article explains what happened, and why. By Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne and Paul Vossen When Cook’s Illustrated...
