Olives

Olives grow well in Mediterranean climates, which is why San Joaquin County offers prime real estate for the venture. It’s the moderate temperatures that help olives thrive, with few days of freezing temperatures and few days over 100 degrees.

One of the area’s largest growers of olives is the Coldani family, owners of Calivirgin and Calivines. While Mike and Julie Coldani originally planned to get into the wine growing game, they landed on olives for economic reasons. First, grape sales were bleak when they started the venture and second, the olive trellis system only required about half of the start-up costs when compared to grape growing. “We took a gamble and jumped in with both feet and planted 100 acres at the time intending to sell most of the fruit to a larger company and reserve some for a hobby at the local farmers market,” Mike says. However, they never ended up selling a single fruit, deciding instead to use all of their bounty to grow their brand of olive oils. “Today we are sold across the U.S. and finished construction on our new tasting room in 2021 with a staff of over 30 people,” he says.

Savory Facts About Olives

You can’t simply pluck and eat an olive. They won’t hurt you, but they are bitter and often have an unpleasant texture.

Only 10% of olives make it to your table as a whole product. The other 90% are turned into olive oil.

Olive trees date back 20-40 million years, making them almost as old as some dinosaurs.

Olive trees can live

If you want to learn more about growing olives, you can always take a tour with the Coldanis. Mike says most people are surprised to hear that, much like grapes, there are more than 100 varietals of olives and they all have different profiles. “Much like a pinot noir grape won’t produce a wine that tastes like a cabernet; there are olives that produce lighter bodied oil or more robust,” he says. Another fun fact? “All olives start out green and then turn purple then black with maturity.”

To capture the most health benefits, the Coldanis harvest in midOctober while olives are still green. While they produce less oil at this stage, they have more nutrients. In November, when the olives start to turn color, a second harvest is completed and oils are made by blending the product from both months.