5 California Resorts for Olive Oil Lovers
The newly updated Vinarosa. Photo credit Vinarosa Resort & Spa
California produces the majority of America’s olive oil, and for travelers, the appeal goes beyond what winds up in the bottle. Across the state, olive groves and estates are becoming part of the luxury hospitality experience, inviting guests to wander amongst centuries-old trees, learn about harvesting and milling, and taste fresh extra-virgin olive oil mere steps from where the olives themselves were grown. At these properties, olive oil is more than just an agricultural product. It’s woven into the identity of the resort, and stars in everything from restaurant dishes to spa treatments and even guest experiences tied to the harvest itself. Here are five California resorts, located across the state everywhere from Paso Robles to Sonoma, that are producing their own olive oil while offering visitors a chance to immerse themselves in the culture and craft of olive growing and harvesting.
Vinarosa has nearly 300 olive trees on its grounds. Photo credit Vinarosa Resort & Spa
Formerly known as Vintners Resort, the rebranded Vinarosa Resort & Spa recently completed a $15 million renovation. Chief Engineer Chris Connell, who joined the property in 2015 as Culinary Gardener, has also overseen major changes to the onsite gardens, orchards, vineyard, and olive groves.
Two acres with more than 300 olive trees were planted at the property in 2008 by the previous Italian owners, who hoped to produce estate olive oil. But the grove went largely untended until 2018, when Connell began restoring it with guidance from mentor Dana Grande, Grower Relations Manager at Jordan Vineyard & Winery, which also produces olive oil.
Today, four Tuscan varieties grow at Vinarosa: frantoio, leccino, maurino, and pendolino. The olives are hand-harvested every fall and milled within 24 hours at Olivino, where the resort has processed its olives since the beginning.
Production remains relatively small, at about 150 to 175 gallons annually. About 75% is used at the property’s restaurant, John Ash, where Chef Howland uses it as a finishing oil for pasta dishes, salads, and housemade focaccia. The remainder is bottled for guests or incorporated into spa treatments, including the signature Estate Garden Massage, which uses olive oil infused with hand-harvested flowers from the estate garden.
4350 Barnes Road, Santa Rosa, 707-575-7350, vinarosaresort.com
Olive oil harvest at Auberge du Soleil. Photo credit Auberge du Soleil
This luxurious Napa Valley hotel is home to 33 acres planted with 250 heritage olive trees. The oil is used throughout the property, and celebrated at the resort’s annual Gathering in the Grove event, which returns this November for its third year. The educational event highlights the property’s olive oil history, production, and the nevadillo, lacques, and redding picholine varieties grown onsite.
The grove dates back to the early 1900s, when it was part of a much larger parcel, making many of the trees between 80 and 100 years old. Today, the grove is maintained by the onsite landscaping team alongside a local olive advisor. During harvest season, typically from mid- to late November, the olives are hand-picked and taken to a nearby mill for pressing and bottling. The finished oil is packaged in both 500 ml bottles and smaller sample bottles given to guests as departure gifts. Annual production typically ranges from two and a half to five tons of olives.
Harvested bottles of oil from The Olive Grove. Photo credit Auberge du Soleil
Gathering in the Grove also includes an olive-focused food and beverage program, including an Olives Six Ways tasting menu with wine pairings at The Restaurant. At The Bar, guests can order olive-inspired cocktails like the olive oil fat-washed Olive Grove Martini or La Poire Olive, made with ginger, pear, and olive oil sour.
Outside the annual event, the olive oil is served daily with bread service at The Restaurant. Bottles of the property’s EVOO are also available through the hotel’s online store.
180 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford, 800-348-5406, auberge.com/auberge-du-soleil
Younger DeAnza Club members help kick off olive harvest. Photo credit Purple Orchid Resort & Spa
The 20.2-acre property where Purple Orchid Resort & Spa sits is part of a land conservancy in Livermore Valley, so when the original owners developed it in the mid-1990s, they were required to maintain an active farming operation. They chose to plant olive trees — a decision that still aligns with the mission of the Tri-Valley Conservancy, one of the few Bay Area organizations focused on preserving agricultural land within new development.
Current owner Derek Eddy took over the property in 2011 and now oversees roughly 1,200 manzanilla olive trees planted throughout the grounds.
“When we took over the property, my wife and I didn't know anything about olive farming,” Eddy says. “We had a lot of help from the local olive farmers that got us started." In fact, the label, Hand Prints Extra Virgin Olive Oil, is a name the couple decided on after their first harvest, because it’s “dedicated to all the helping hands that got us going … to the community and farmers that helped us learn the trade and everything we know.”
DeAnza Club members picking olives at harvest. Photo credit Purple Orchid Resort & Spa
After years of guest questions about the olive trees and oil, the resort launched the DeAnza Club seven years ago as a way to involve the community more directly in the harvest process. Named for the nearby Juan Bautista De Anza Historic Trail, the club allows members to adopt a tree for the year and participate in pruning classes, harvest events, and bottling days. (Some members keep the Purple Orchid label, while others create private labels for their bottles.) The resort also hosts a National Olive Oil Day dinner and olive oil-focused lunches after club events.
Club members help kick off the harvest each year before a larger crew picks the majority of the olives. Although the Eddy family remains close with local mill Olivina, most olives are now milled at Sciabica Family Olive Oil because of production capacity. The grove is predominantly dry farmed, producing smaller yields of concentrated, high-polyphenol oil — about 300 to 600 gallons annually.
Most of the oil is bottled and sold directly through the resort. The property’s catering team also uses at least 100 gallons annually for weddings, events, and daily breakfast service for overnight guests.
4549 Cross Road, Livermore, 925-606-8855, purpleorchid.com
The bocce court at Allegretto, where there are about 220 olive trees. Photo credit Allegretto Vineyard Resort
The olive grove at Allegretto Vineyard Resort was designed to frame the property, creating a sense of arrival upon entry. The roughly 220 trees range in age from 25 to more than 100 years old, and varieties include arbequina, ascolano, manzanillo, mission, picholine, and Sevillano.
The resort’s landscaping team organically farms and maintains the grove alongside the estate gardens. Each fall, a dedicated crew hand-harvests the olives before they are sent to nearby Kiler Ridge Olive Farm for pressing and bottling. The estate typically harvests between eight and 11 tons of olives annually, producing about 120 gallons of olive oil depending on the vintage.
Guests at Allegretto encounter the olive oil throughout the resort experience. It is used in dishes at Cello Ristorante & Bar, featured alongside cheese and charcuterie boards in the tasting room, and sold in bottles to take home. “For those looking for a deeper connection, the vineyard and estate tour offers a more immersive introduction, tying the olive grove into the larger story of the land,” says Tasting Room Manager Rosemary Behren.
2700 Buena Vista Drive, Paso Robles, 805-369-2500, allegrettovineyardresort.com
Olive oil is a key part of the experience for visitors to the Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Photo credit Marriott”
Located in a region with a long agricultural history, Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano draws inspiration from the area’s early olive-growing traditions.
On the southern end of California sits the Inn at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, located in a region with a long agricultural history. “The olive grove at Inn at the Mission is inspired by San Juan Capistrano’s long agricultural history, which dates back to the Mission era when olive trees were first planted and cultivated in the late 1700s,” says Marketing Manager Stephanie Puckett.
While the property’s trees are not commercially harvested, the hotel partners with Nuvo Olive Oil to produce its private-label Reverence olive oil for use throughout the property. Puckett says the grove was incorporated into the hotel’s design to “reflect the region’s legacy of olive orchards and early California farming traditions.”
Nuvo co-owner Josh Mardigian says the company’s 25-acre grove dates back roughly 135 years. “A gold miner’s wife figured out how to can olives commercially and ended up planting thousands of acres up north,” he says. “My parents bought the orchard in 2001, but it was abandoned until 2012 when my brother and I brought it back into production and decided to start Nuvo Olive Oil.”
The grove is planted with about 2,000 mission olive trees that are hand-harvested using rakes and nets, and the olives are milled within 12 hours of harvest at a facility outside Oroville. In total, Nuvo produces more than 10,000 gallons of olive oil annually.
At the resort, Reverence olive oil appears throughout the guest experience. It is used in dishes and cocktails at Ysidora, featured in complimentary olive oil tastings during check-in, sold in the gift shop, and highlighted during public tasting events hosted in partnership with Nuvo throughout the year.
26907 Old Mission Road, San Juan Capistrano, 949-503-5700, innatthemissionsjc.com