IT’S HERE!!  We are so proud and privileged to be able to offer you, our loyal customers, this wonderful program of olive oil authenticity, freshness and quality. Marisolio is the only store in the entire California San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevada areas to be selected to sell these unique and premium oils.  Beginning June 1, 2012, we’re launching this program in-store and online.  We will acquaint you with the program and provide our expert advice on how to select your next extra virgin olive oil purchases. All of the extra virgin olive oils in this program will come with a chemical analysis certificate, the official UP logo and much more!  Read more…..

Stop by the store to look for special items for Mothers’ Day.  If your Mom likes “all things olive” there’s sure to be something in our store to please her.

This month we have 3 hot/spicy oils and 3 springtime-flavored balsamic condimentos on sale at a “red hot” special 15% discount.  Stock up now.

Check out our new blog at www.marisolio.wordpress.com to keep up with even more news from Marisolio Tasting Bar.

Events Page. Completed and a Huge Success!!!

April 13-14, 2013:  Thorpe Plaza Pre-Tax Day Shindig.  Winners of our recipe contest will be announced.  We’re celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Marisolio’s opening and also celebrating the completion of our new demonstration kitchen project, as well as highlighting the other Thorpe Plaza businesses.

April 16, 2013: Asparagus A to Z.  Sign up for our mid-month cooking class and learn the many, many ways to prepare everyone’s favorite spring vegetable. Drop by the store or call at (209) 728-5578 to make reservations.  Class fee is $30 and lasts about 2 hours.

Looking ahead to May:

Tuesday, May 7, 2013: Mom’s Day Out – Fondue Class.  Sweet and savory fondues will be demonstrated.  Drop by the store or call at (209) 728-5578 to make reservations.  Class fee is $30 and lasts about 2 hours.

OUR NEW BLOG IS UP AND RUNNING.  CHECK OUT THE BLOG AT MARISOLIO.WORDPRESS.COM.

March 1-31 – Our Annual Recipe contest.  Send us your favorite recipes with our oils and/or condimentos.  There will be prizes and the winning recipes will be featured in our forthcoming cookbook.

March 19 – Irish Day in Murphys.  A long-held tradition in Murphys. CA.  Join us for fun and food.  We will be offering our usual Dollar Day Pancakes (free, of course) with a variety of balsamic condimento toppings.  You’ll be amazed how wonderful pancakes can taste with balsamic condimentos instead of syrup.  Healthier for you, too.

March 19 – Hearty Soups Class:  For details, check out our Events Page.

New Recipes this month: Check out our Recipe Page.

Within the next few months we will be featuring our new frozen pasta line. In addition to the dry artisan pasta that we’ve been featuring for almost a year, we’ll be offering fantastic ravioli, tortellini, tortolloni, gnocchi, various pestos and sauces, as well.

Our mission at Marisolio Tasting Bar is not only to offer you the freshest oils in the world but also to share with you information about how olive oil is produced, how to taste olive oil, the chemistry of olive oil, and what to look for when buying olive oils. In the near future, two new monitors in the store will be streaming this information to you.

Marisolio Tasting Bar is adding a new cooking demonstration kitchen this month so we can bring you more exciting cooking classes year-round. During the construction, the store will be closed and online orders cannot be fulfilled, because all the crocks and fustis will be wrapped and sealed to avoid contamination from the dust that goes along with any renovation. As soon as the project is finished, you will be notified by newsletter if you are on our mailing list (see upper right corner of this page) and we will post the re-opening dates on this website.

We’re looking forward to being able to bring you new products, new classes, and new cooking adventures.

“Olive” Our Harvest Facts

• During harvest, we employ 30-40 persons to pick the olives from the trees daily.  Mexican states represented by the labor crew: Puebla, Zacatecas, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Chiapas.  Other countries represented: El Salvador, Pakistan.
• “Olive” our olives are hand-picked.  No machinery is used.
• We harvest four varieties of olives: Leccino, Frantoio (Italian), Kalamata (Greek), Arbequina (Spanish)
• There are almost 4000 trees at the ranch; approximately 1000 of each variety.
• Harvested olives are dumped into busboy trays (Charolas) from picking buckets by the workers.
• Each “charola” has a number on it.  When filled, the worker places his punch card in the try.
• Ranch workers pick up the “charolas” and place them in the ATV trailer and tractor-driven utility trailer
• The ATV transports the charolas to weigh-in location, where per/individual charola weights are recorded by the ranch.  Then the labor contractor punches a card for each recorded charola meeting the minimum weight standard of 30 pounds.  Usually the ATV can haul 24 filled charolas at a time to the weigh-in location.  The utility trailer can haul 90+ charolas.
• There are approximately 4300 olives in a 30 pound charola.
• It takes 30-32 charolas to fill a waiting bin on a long trailer.  Within a few hours they are transported to the olive mill for crushing.
• A filled bin is “guesstimated” to hold 140,000 olives.
• Every day during harvest, we transport 4-6 tons of olives to the mill.
• At the mill, the olive bins are removed from the trailer by the forklift, dumped into a hopper, and washed.  Then by conveyor belt, they are transported into the malaxer.
• The malaxer crushes everything—- skin. pits, and olive flesh—-into a purplish paste for approximately 50-55 minutes.
• The paste is then transported by pumps into a centrifuge where, by high speed spinning, water and solids are removed and the remainder is OLIO NUOVO.  Delicious, great oil!!