Partner Spotlight: Discover the Finest Olive Oil at McEvoy Ranch

A good book can change your life. It did for McEvoy Ranch founder Nan McEvoy, who pioneered California’s modern olive oil industry more than 30 years ago, after reading Maggie Blythe Klein’s book Feast of the Olive. The book, which has been described as a “love letter to the olive,” reminded Nan of the years she had spent in Tuscany enjoying the region’s beautiful extra-virgin olive oil, and sparked her interest in bringing olives home to California. Three generations later, Nan’s curiosity has blossomed into McEvoy Ranch: a vibrant, 550-acre working estate that leads California’s olive growers and produces the world’s finest extra-virgin olive oil. Inspired by a shared commitment to the finest quality, Le Creuset has partnered with McEvoy Ranch to celebrate the launch of our newest hue, Olive.

Deep Roots

From the beginning, McEvoy Ranch prioritized quality and craft. After meeting Italian agronomist Maurizio Castelli in the early 1990s, Nan worked with him to import 3,000 Tuscan olive trees to Petaluma, CA and carefully orchestrate and design the olive orchard layout and composition for the ranch. The trees enjoy the climate of the cool coastal orchards, where they are well-tended through every step of organic production. McEvoy Ranch’s on-site mill—the Frantoio—allows the olives to be milled immediately after harvesting for the freshest oil. McEvoy Ranch is known for their “early harvest” extra-virgin olive oil, a November harvest oil that maximizes the bright, grassy flavors and high polyphenol levels that make their olive oil so distinctive.

Good Taste

The Tuscan olive trees grown on McEvoy Ranch produce an oil that tends to be more pungent and peppery than olive oil made in other regions. This distinctive flavor, coupled with all the health benefits of making a high-polyphenol oil, made it a natural choice for Nan many years ago. Kym goes on to explain, “Once you taste our oil, the flavor is so dynamic, complex and extraordinary that you can’t imagine what you’ve been using all these years is the same thing. And of course, if you have been using Pure or Light olive oil, it really isn’t the same thing because those olive oils are refined and deodorized. Extra Virgin and Virgin olive oil is not refined and is never deodorized.” In contrast, McEvoy Ranch’s careful craftsmanship, organic farming practices, and beautiful Tuscan olives have resulted in a complex and robust extra virgin olive oil that’s been called “one of Earth’s healthiest products.”