L. A. County Fair
Olive Oils of the World

In 2000, the Los Angeles County Fair in cooperation with the California Olive Oil Council and their panel of tasters introduced an extra virgin olive oil and flavored olive oil competition in conjunction with the wine competition. The competition quickly grew to world stature and is now the largest olive oil comp- etition in the nation. The 2005 competition received 364 oils from 242 producers from around the world.

Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Domestic
Saltonstall Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Maurino, Moraiolo
Sonoma

Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil - International
Villa Zottopera, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Italian Classic Blends, Baroness Ignazia, Italy

Like his ancestor Sir Richard Saltonstall, who was among the first  British pioneers to settle in America in 1630, Sam Saltonstall has an  adventurous spirit and a taste for a challenge.

Six years ago, the 71-year-old Saltonstall was growing corn on a 400-acre farm in Bloomington, Ill.

``Corn is a little boring,'' he said, explaining why he traded his farm in Illinois for a 160-acre ranch south of Petaluma.

As for retirement, ``When you work at something you like to do, it's the same as being retired,''  he said.

Saltonstall decided to grow olives and grapes. Six years  later, his experimentation led to one of the olive oil industry's most  prestigious awards.

Saltonstall Estate won a special award for  ``Best extra virgin olive oil'' in the domestic category, one of only three special awards given at the Los Angeles County Fair Olive Oil Competition in May.

Saltonstall also won one of 11 ``best of class'' gold medals  awarded to different categories of varietals.

The competition, which is  believed to be the largest olive oil competition in the world, drew more than  300 entries from the United States and around the  globe.

Saltonstall is proud of the recognition, but he is taking things in stride. His challenge now is figuring out how to make his olive oil venture into ``a viable business,'' he said.

Saltonstall produced  400 gallons of olive oil last year, and plans to produce 500 gallons this year. He sells it on the Internet and at the Petaluma Market, where an 8.4-ounce bottle is priced at $19.99. However, he has not yet turned a profit on the  business.

Saltonstall is working on reducing his labor costs and  has tried different mechanical devices to harvest his olives, which are  organically grown. Next year, he plans to use a new contraption from Australia.

A tinkerer and inventor, Saltonstall has also created a gasohol production system he said would have made money if the gas crisis of the '70s had not subsided, a solar house for which he won a prize from the Jimmy  Carter administration, and a no-till planter ``that didn't work very  well.''

What led to Saltonstall's recent success with olive oil was a determination ``to make the healthiest olive oil, even if it tastes like  castor oil,” he said.

He started his olive grove on 10 acres of hillsides, planting a combination of varietals from Tuscany, Italy, including Frontoio, Lechino, Marino and Pendolino.

The selection wasn't particularly original, as he mostly copied what some other growers in the area were doing.

But starting with his first harvest three years ago, Saltonstall began to experiment with the time of harvest and how much water he gave his trees. He had frequent chemical analyses done on the different batches to determine their chemical composition.

His goal was an oil that contained the highest possible amount of desirable elements, like vitamins A and  B, which are anti-oxidants, and the lowest amount of undesirable elements, he said.

The olive harvest season runs from October through February.  Generally, the earlier the olives are picked, the better the oil quality, Saltonstall and other growers said. The olives that made his award-winning oil were picked in mid-October 2004.

Even though Saltonstall was not striving to produce a superior taste, that is exactly  what he accomplished, several of the contest's judges said.

``His oil had  a level of complexity and nuance that was really extraordinary,'' said Alexandra Devarenne, an olive oil expert with the UC Cooperative Extension Service who  served as one of the judges. ``It was a really lovely oil.''

Soon after moving to Petaluma, Saltonstall started a second family. He married his Russian-born wife, Marina, five years ago and they have 4-year-old twins,  Elizabeth and Sam.

``He's a genius,'' said Marina Saltonstall.  ``He's thinking all the time; he's a little bit  crazy.''

Saltonstall has big plans for the future.

He wants to build an olive oil processing facility on his ranch, produce wine under his own label and build a new house.

``I'm 71 but I'm not dead yet,'' he  said.

.
You can reach Staff Writer Jose L. Sanchez Jr. at 762-7297 or jsanchez@pressdemocrat.com.
 

Sam Saltonstall's olive oil won ``best extra virgin olive oil'' in  the domestic category at the Los Angeles County Fair this year