In the Santa Ynez mountains, among the sagebrush and peppercorns of Los Alamos California, I find myself walking through an olive grove with Theodora Stephan of Global Gardens. (http://www.globalgardensonline.com/) Theodora is an organic olive oil producer and the land we are walking on is where she grows her olive trees. There are several different varieties of olives growing, many trees imported from as far away as Greece and Spain. According to Theodora, this has been a lean year for olive growers. “Most of these trees are weighted down with olives,” she says, “but not this year.” Northern California is quickly becoming prolific olive growing region. In fact, the area is home to one of the largest olive oil producers in North America. However, the region boasts several smaller producers, like Theodora’s company, Global Gardens.

Theodora Stephan is relatively new to the business, having left a lofty job in advertising to move to the mountains of California, over ten years ago, where she bought land and began experimenting with creating different blends of olive oils and balsamic fruit vinegars -- the latter with the help of local wineries.

In late fall/early winter, when the trees being to drop from the weight of the olives, Stephan assembles a team of about 30-50 works to ick olives from each tree. They start before the sun comes up and fill the last truck as the sun drops back behind the mountains. From there, the olives journey farther up the California coast to a mill, where they are immediately stone crushed and cold pressed – the sooner the olives go through this process, the better the oil – bottled, and ready to go.

After my tour of the grove, I’m taken back to the Global Gardens tasting room in nearby Los Olivos, California, where Stephan prepares a palate of her olive oils for me to try. As she pours, she explains how, much like wine, the oil takes on the taste of the surrounding environment, the terroir, as it’s called (literally meaning “from the land”), which includes a hint of everything from the plants and flowers to the wine grapes, dirt, and abundance of lavender and herbs that populate the soil and hang in the air of this Santa Barbara county community. Once she points out the subtle flavors, your palate and brain immediately make the connection. Some flavors are more light and smooth, while others have a bite to them. I detect a hint of Meyer lemon, sage, and even a bit of mango (though my taste buds could have been playing tricks on me). As for the balsamic fruit vinegars, there’s a clean tasting cherry peppermint vinegar, fig, pomegranate, green apple, and a juicy blood orange, to name a few.

Theodora is so passionate about olive oil, vinegar and their myriad health benefits, she created a cookbook to share recipes and extoll the virtues of this liquid manna.

If you find yourself driving up through the majestic purple, green, and beige Santa Ynez Mountains of Santa Barbara County, make sure you stop at Global Gardens for a tasting. If you can’t get there, Theodora sells her award-winning olive oils, vinegars, condiments, and snacks online.

For more on Global Gardens, check out this video.