Lou Ann Bauer certainly heard the news first. It’s quite possible, however, that her neighbors learned of her gold medal at the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition just a second or two later — even in the rural surroundings of Kelseyville.
“I just screamed when I heard it,” she said.
Emilio De la Cruz was a little more composed when told he had won a best of show at the California Olive Oil Council Annual Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition. In fact, the veteran mill master wasn’t even paying attention.
“As I was conversing with the other participants during the announcements, I faintly heard the name Chacewater, not realizing it was for the award for best of show,” he recalled. “Then they also announced that I was chosen for the Millers Recognition Award. I was very surprised at that point and didn’t know how to react.”
Within in a matter of weeks, two Lake County olive oil producers — one large, one small — had topped their class in major competitions.
Best of show at the olive oil council’s competition in Monterey went to Chacewater’s Sevillano, an extra virgin oil from a Spanish varietal. It is one of several in the Kelseyville winery and olive mill’s popular line. Bauer’s gold at the Los Angeles International recognized her only oil, a Tuscan blend from Coratina, Pendolino, Frantoio and Leccino under the Hill Creek Vineyard label.
For Bauer the medal completed a journey from hobby to limited production line. She tends to 40 trees near Merritt Road outside of Kelseyville, planted in 2000 from seedling stock grown in Italy and started in the business sharing the olive oil with friends.
“Everybody was telling me it was good,” she said.
Her Hill Creek Tuscan Blend — an organically grown extra virgin oil — is a temperamental thing, a patrol prepared to strike at the slightest provocation. It opens with a fusillade of pepper and finishes the same way, with sparks flying over your palate. Flickers of chile heat silhouette an herbal bitterness, both adding to the intensity.
“It’s not a soft dainty thing at all,” Bauer acknowledged, adding that the oil packs an even greater punch just after milling.
“As it gets older it mellows out,” she added.
Bottling indeed treats the Hill Creek Tuscan Blend well. In the onslaught of pepper, you begin to notice the earthy bite does not resemble the typical cracked black peppercorn note. Rather, it is as if one had snapped a wildly growing grass to reveal a bitter, herbal snarl.
As this first skirmish settles into desultory sniping, notions of peaceful meadow grass and apple orchards appear. In the calm after the fray, the oil reveals a rich, genteel side — plush and comfortable in its bucolic setting.
It is a robust and remarkable experience.
While Bauer began as an amateur producer, quietly tending her trees, De la Cruz served as miller for olives grown by the old Greek Orthodox Monastery. He was retained as the miller when Paul Manuel took over the property in 2008 and formed Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill . De la Cruz has earned 15 gold medals at various competitions over the years, including a best of show at the Los Angeles international in 2012.
Chacewater’s Sevillano is an elegant expression of the fruit. Although bitter when first milled, it quickly softens in the bottle, offering aromas of whole apple and freshly cut sweet hay. Yet the oil is heartier on the palate, with a swell of ground pepper on the finish.
But the Sevillano is more notable for a buttery affluence. Churned by hand at a small Old World dairy in a serene orchard of red apples, It drapes over the palate. The oil lolls for a moment, the creamy lushness underscored only by a raspy lace of field grass before the bittersweet snap of pepper and mown hay emerges.
The California Olive Oil Council is a non-profit organization that certifies the state’s extra virgin olive oils. The honor, even in a string of honors, impressed the Chacewater owner.
“Congratulations to Emilio, I truly appreciate and enjoy what he has been doing,” Manuel said. “It is wonderful to see him recognized”
Chacewater is committed to organic farming — as well as the community. The Kelseyville winery mills olives for many of the smaller Lake County producers, including Bauer.
“Emilio is the nicest guy in the world,” she said.
In harvesting her Tuscan varietals, Bauer had to keep an eye on the olives, the weather and the schedule at Chacewater. The mill is busy in the fall and extra virgin oil must reach the press within 24 hours of being picked.
But the process clearly works, for Chacewater, for Hill Creek Vineyard and for all of Lake County’s fine olive oils.
Dennis Purcell contributed to this report
