I'm visiting the charming city of Nelson, BC and just enjoyed a tasting of olive oils and balsamic vinegars at Nelson Olive Oil Co.
We have a store just like this in my city, but I just love the experience and wanted to take home some products. I like that you can see the harvest date, region and polyphenol content. They had a super high polyphenol Greek olive oil with a bite! But it was $$$ so I went with a bottle of satiny Portuguese olive oil (and some apricot white balsamic which pairs well with a green salad with summer fruit). They also made me some shrubs (balsamic vinegar with soda water). I forgot how delicious it is!
Does anybody have a store like this in their city? Where do you buy your olive oil?
by donairhistorian
10 Comments
I wish we had a store like this in my city. I would absolutely love it.
Yes! I live in suburban KC and we have a store like this. I love it.
I don’t think there is one in my city. But there is one in the town next door. I forget about them.
But we do have a gourmet grocery store that is one of the premier importers in the US of high quality oils. And since wine country and other olive growing places are close, just about every farmers market will have a local purveyor at the market with a dozen or more varietals to taste. It is pretty easy to find quality oils where I am in California.
But i do miss that one grocery store had an olive oil bar like this, but they killed it. And the pandemic has killed the daily samples at that specialty market. Now it is just weekends and staffed when they used to open a few bottles and cut up bread for a self serve station. Now i taste more at the farmers market.
We have a store in Sacramento called [Olive Mix ](https://chefsolivemix.com/)that sells infused olive oils, balsamic vinegars, and various other specialty vinegars. They do tastings at the shop and at various pop-up markets and events, and it’s all very lovely! I have a few small bottles of specialty oils, but for my main everyday cooking I have to go with the big $12 bottle from Trader Joe’s.
My mom lives in a tiny town in Northern Ish Ontario, and they have a boutique store that’s open 365 days a year. They give you free samples and everything, you haven’t lived until you’ve taken a shot of jalapeño and lavender olive oil.
Nice place
Is it run by Jeff Goldblum?
We’ve had one about 6 miles from our home for several years and it’s a wonderful place. My ideal day would be browsing & tasting in the olive oil store followed by a trip to our local Penzey’s Spices, World Market and Whole Foods.
There’s one in my area and it’s soooo good! It’s typically where I buy my oil and vinegar and it’s not pricier than good olive oil from the grocery store when you bring bottles back for refills.
It also makes a great gift!
I visited Corning, NY and they had a store like this. I loved it and still think about it a few years later.