- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
San Francisco Chronicle wine columnist Jon Bonné wrote about the prospects for another variety of white wine to rise in popularity, perhaps to the level of such well known wines as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris and Reisling. In the article, Bonné referenced a new trial at UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, where 55 varieties are under study, from Trebbiano to Petit Manseng. The study was designed to determine what might best match the San Joaquin Valley's hot climes. Project leader UC Cooperative Extension viticulture specialist...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Thanks to the generous spirit of late brothers Allen and Robert Young, the 3-acre Young Family Ranch in Weaverville is the setting for community workshops on soils, gardening, food preservation and more, reported Laura Christman in the Redding Record Searchlight. The farmhouse basement has been turned into a community classroom. Carol Fall, program specialist with Trinity County UC Cooperative Extension, has office space in the basement. Upstairs, two bedrooms are offices for the extension's nutrition staff. Being at the ranch allows the UC experts to tap into the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The USDA's new voluntary guidelines defining "extra virgin" olive oil go into effect Monday, but many of California's producers are already following even stricter regulations set down by the California Olive Oil Council, according to an article in the Ventura County Star.
USDA's guidelines allow for no defects and no more than 0.8 percent free oelic acid in olive oil labeled "extra virgin;" COOC requires no defects and no more than 0.5 percent free oleic acid.
The new guidelines come on the heels of a UC Davis Olive Center study finding that of 52 bottles of 19 brands of...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
An industry blog on the website Olive Oil Times devoted a lengthy post to the UC Davis Olive Center this week. The center, established two years ago, is part of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
In the post, writer Sophia Markoulakis noted that acreage of California olive trees for oil has increased from 6,000 in 2004 to 22,000 in 2009.
"And with California producing 99 percent of the nation’s olive oil, the UC Davis Olive Center is ground zero for ongoing olive industry research and outreach,"...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Olive trees are notoriously resistant to mechanical harvest, but UC researchers are making steady progress toward developing a system that will get 80 percent of the fruit off trees without hiring an expensive hand crew. The research goal and progress were shared in a Capital Press story by Hank Shaw about a recent field day at the UC Nickels Soil Lab near Arbuckle.
Table olives are "devilishly difficult to pick," the story said.
- Olives bruise easily and bruised olives don't cure properly.
- Olive trees tend to be wispy, which limits the ability of shaking machines to...