May 04, 2003
March 22 Dennis Black organized another successful seminar for those planning olive planting. The location this time was Santa Rosa Junior College. He started out with an overview of the history of olives in California and spoke of his involvement with NovaVine Nursery.
Shari DeJoseph of McEvoy Ranch presented a wealth of information on propagating olives, orchard planning in general and discussed pollination, fruiting, pruning, irrigation, etc.
John Deane of the Olive Oil Source discussed the basic stages of making olive oil using their home press as an example. Pneumatic pruners and harvesters were available for inspection.
After a lunch break the miller from the Olive Press spoke about processing the olive fruit and factors which go into determining the final flavor. The Olive Press has a Pieralisi centrifugal decanter system.
A formal olive oil tasting was conducted with several California and imported oils. Some of the attendees also brought oil to be tasted.
Dennis has an MBA and has worked in sales at Spice Islands, Campbell Food, and Hershey Foods Company. He owns Black Emerald Vineyard, a 16 acre Chardonnay vineyard, and is a member of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers, and on the Board of Directors of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association.
For information on future seminars, contact Dennis Black at NovaVine: 707-539-5678