Above, left to right: Rosemary, Basil, Blood Orange, Persian Lime, Meyer Lemon and Extra Virgin Olive Oils.

Real Food for Real People: Assaggiare Mendocino brings the best-kept secrets of Northern California Wine Country foods to your table.

Chef and author John Ash is �a devoted fan! ...Stella Cadente�s winning the Best of Show at the Oils of the World Competition is equivalent to winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards."

�Stella Cadente's Blood Orange Oil is not an infused oil, but a carefully balanced oil with absolutely no bitterness. It is the only oil I use in my orange and ginger cake," says Peggy Knickerbocker, author of the cookbook Olive Oil from Tree to Table. �Try it on a beets, Roquefort, and arugula salad or drizzle it over grilled fish or roast pork.�

Visit any one of the Stella Cadente Olive Oil Bars at:

Mosswood Market
14111 Highway 128 (in downtown Boonville)
Boonville

Brutocao Cellars Tasting Room
13500 South Highway 101
Hopland

Harvest Market
171 Boatyard Drive
Fort Bragg

Potomac Point Winery
275 Decatur Road
Stafford, Virginia

Customers can fill their own containers or they can purchase them at the Bar for a nominal fee. The oils available in bulk are: L'Autunno Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Meyer Lemon Oil, Blood Orange Oil, and Persian Lime Oil, Basil Oil (Mosswood Market only).
 
To contact
Stella Cadente Olive Oil

Visit our Website
Contact: Julia Conway
Email us
Phone: 800-305-1288
Fax: 707-961-6001
Shop online
Store:
At Mosswood Market
14111 Highway 128
Boonville, CA 95494
Recipes
 
To receive the Savor
California newsletter,
"Savory News,"
sign up for our mailing list.
  Stella Cadente Olive Oil

The name Stella Cadente sounds romantic, even if one doesn�t know that it means �shooting star� in Italian. Away from city lights in the Anderson Valley of Mendocino County the nights are very dark, and the summer months bring a spectacular display of shooting stars. This was founders Sue Ellery and Tom Hunter�s inspiration for the name of Shooting Star Ranch and Stella Cadente Olive Oil.

From these proud roots, Stella Cadente has grown to become the premier source for oils produced from Mendocino County�s unmatched Tuscan-style olives. Today, many of the olives are sourced from small family farms and wineries in the hills and valleys of the county, produced sustainably and independently, as are many of the regions well-known wines.

The newest member of the Stella Cadente family is Mendocino County chef Julia Kendrick Conway. A devoted fan of Stella Cadente�s oils from her tenure as a manager at a local specialty food store, Julia was a natural choice to take the company to the next level. With culinary training from the Napa Valley�s Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, and at a farm school in Tuscany, Julia brings a cook�s perspective and palate to product development and marketing.

A local leader for Slow Food, Julia believes that Stella Cadente�s local wine-country roots are an essential part of product�s identity. �As technology continues to separate people from each other and from their culinary roots, it is important to remember where our food comes from. This is why the company�s expansion will always be tied to the sense of place established by the farmers themselves. The work of their hands brings the goodness of the land to our tables.�

Stella Cadente�s olive oils have one foot in the future and one foot in the past. The olives on the ranch, and at the surrounding Mendocino County family farms and wineries are farmed without pesticides, hand picked to avoid bruising the delicate fruit, and rushed to the press within hours of picking. Using a combination of traditional stone-wheel crushing and modern milling technologies, the resulting oils showcase a range of flavors, described by Slow Food Italia: �The predominant flavor of new olives is accompanied by notes of mown hay, tomato leaves and aromatic herbs. The taste corresponds with the smell; the oil is very lively, with a good texture and pleasingly bitter and spicy notes.�

A favorite of local and San Francisco Bay are chefs alike, Stella Cadente is often a feature of special dinners, wine tastings and cooking demonstrations. Club Stella memberships, the ultimate gift for olive-oil lovers, can be purchased on the site. Recipes on the site have been contributed by chefs, staff, and customers.

Copyright 2003-2010 by Savor California. All rights reserved.