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About The Olive Press

Sonoma County's First Olive Mill

Nestled in the Carneros region of the Sonoma Valley is the Original, the ONLY most highly awarded California Olive Oil producer.  The Olive Press was created in 1995 by Ed Stolman and Deborah Rogers, both California olive growers and producers who were inspired by the olive pressing facilities of Italy and Southern France.  Dedicated to making only the finest Award-Winning, Fresh California Extra Virgin Olive Oil, they constructed a completely unique facility designed to produce not only the best local Extra Virgin Olive Oil many have grown to know and love, but also meet the custom pressing needs of commercial producers, growers with small harvests, and hobbyists wishing to create “estate” olive oil from home grown olives. How did they do it?  Their impressive state-of-the-art Pieralisi processing equipment makes it all possible, and of course the expert eyes of Master Olive Oil Maker and Olive Queen, Deborah Rogers.

Excerpt from Sonoma Magazine 2007... 

She doesn't have a crown or scepter, but Deborah Rogers does have a kingdom of olives, and an obsession for the bitter fruit that borders on being either majestic or mad.  And she will tell you without shame that she positively flat out loves it!  "Truly!  Making olive oil is my passion.  I love every minute of it." 

For Deborah, that means inspecting each pound of fruit that arrives at The Olive Press, casting a squinty eye on bad olives and banishing them from the castle, piloting a forklift to move the half ton bins, watching the crushed paste pulse through the mill and repeatedly sipping the warm and pungent oil that drains from the centrifuge like a golden-green flume.

When she started, Rogers wasn't yet a queen, more like a princess with a passion.  Mentored by an immigrant  grandmother who taught her to garden and cook, she always knew her life would revolve around food and agriculture.  

At one point, she says, she made a fateful decision.  "I decided I was never going to do something just for the paycheck."  So she ended up with a degree in ornamental agriculture and eventually slipped or slid into olive oil...

The Olive Press is dedicated to anything and everything having to do with olives and olive oil. Visiting one of the tasting rooms in Sonoma and Napa is an experience. The best and freshest award winning California extra virgin olive oils are offered for tasting, along with a variety of vinegars for unusual, creative and sometimes explosive pairings.  In the artisan & gourmet gift shop you’ll find many unique and distinctive items and can enjoy a variety of culinary delights for the chef and novice alike. The complete line of The Olive Press products are available in our stores, catalog and online.