St Helena Olive Oil

While waiting for a table at the Rutherford Grill, decided to do a little olive oil tasting.
My favorite part: you get to taste everything that is sold here.
Although we did not end up buying any of the olive oils, I like mine to have a bit more olive flavor then some of the ones that are sold here. We did stock up on some other goodies. Some of our favorites:
— the plum jam is really good, not too sweet
— good french mustards
— oils with jalepeno and habanero tasted like fresh peppers from the garden
— Walnut oil is a good value and is very fresh tasting, it goes especially well with avocado and toast.
— the staff is helpful without being over-​bearing or pushy
Will definitely come back when in Napa.

This is really a 4.5 stars, with a half star removed for the price. I know it’s Napa valley, but it sure would be nice to have more reasonable prices.
The storefront in Rutherford is the only one I’ve been to. I love this place, but what I lost the most is the nectar that is the traditional method balsamic vinegar. This is what balsamic vinegar is supposed to be. It’s not cheap, though. $ 38 a bottle. Ouch. But hey, it makes a terrific gift for your foodie friend! Is bring a bottle of wine as a hostess gift too passé? Bring a bottle of the traditional method balsamic vinegar instead! (I have a few bottles on hand to use as last minute gifts in a pinch.)
My next favorite part about this store is the «Reduce Foreign Dependence on Olive Oil» sign. Ha! That still cracks me up when I think about it. But maybe I’m easily amused.
Going back to the yummy balsamic vinegar, I can sip that stuff out of a shot glass. It’s just sweet enough. It’s perfect for drizzling over a caprese salad in the summertime. Get some heirloom tomatoes, whole milk mozzarella, basil, a good EVOO, salt, and pepper and you’re good to go.
I also love making a really easy and tasty vinaigrette with the balsamic vinegar, but that can get a little pricey. I actually found another really good balsamic that I love, too, but it’s just a teeny bit not quite as good as this stuff. But it’s still excellent and perfect for vinaigrette dressings. That balsamic vinegar is from We Olive (in San Francisco, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo). In fact, I need to write a review there, too. That comes next…

My friends and I happened upon this by chance; we had never noticed this place before and decided to drop in while waiting for a table at Rutherford Grill across the street.
I’m so glad we did. We happily sampled all the olive oils they had out. The habanero olive oil was amazing, and the heat was a slow, tasty heat.
Then I tried the white truffle olive oil. O.M.G. I ate three little spoonfuls of that olive oil. It was amazing. So amazing that I caved and bought a small bottle even though it was pretty pricey. I haven’t used it while cooking yet, but my sister has informed me I’m not supposed to eat the stuff by the (small) spoonful. Ah well. Still good.
Their lavender-​scented lotions and such smell amazing too. Love this place and looking forward to going back.

I loved all of the different tasting stations scattered around the store. There is bread and spoons for you to use to try the different oils.
In addition to olive oil, they also sell bath/​body products, books, vinegars, pasta sauces, jams, etc. You can sample almost everything in the store!
My favorite was the truffle oil and truffle salt! The spicy pasta sauce was also really good… beware though because when I went some guy tried some of the sauce and couldn’t stop coughing after! Haha so only try it if you can actually take spiciness
What I would skip would be the free Port in the back. It was gross… way too sweet, felt like I was drinking strawberry jam! Yuck.

Olive oil tasting?! This place was really neat! Who knew there were so many different kind of olive oils! They also sell bath products, pasta sauce, vinegars, etc etc. Heaven for olive oil (and vinegar) lovers.

A beautiful rustic purveyor of fine olive oils. Sample stations are littered around the space so you can try them before you buy!

This place is great! Lots of open space and weathered wood and metal decorate the space. All products are arrayed on the tables for you to sample at your leisure — bath products (salts and soaps and lotions and rubs) to pasta sauce, to BBQ rubs/​sauces, dog goodies, vinegars, books, and of course, olive oils. Staff was friendly but didn’t hover and didn’t hesitate to answer any questions. Blows Sepay (in Fairfield/​Suisun) out of the water. If you’re in the Napa Valley, STOP HERE! You won’t regret it. I’m gonna head back the next time I hit up the nearby V. Sattui winery.

This place is sooooo cute! The décor is vintage and floral. Their interior designer is amazing!
The ladies here are so friendly and welcoming. Go up to the counter to get an informal olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. You can taste any of their products (with a spoon or with bread) which are scattered all around the store. I really like the honey olive oil. It was sweet and floral! They also sell soap made from the olives used in the olive oil. The soaps smell amazing!
Come visit place while you are waiting for a table at Rutherford Grill!
Try It. Really Like It. Repeat.

Got myself a jar of the lavender body butter (my hands never felt this aaaamazing) and the jalapeño olive oil (out of all of them, this one was the best in my opinion). I really enjoyed tasting all the different oils and honeys and the pasta sauces were quite lovely (especially the spicy heirloom tomato). The décor in here vaguely reminds me of Artefact, very artistic. Definitely worth a good twenty minutes and a great place to pick up a yummy little gift.

LOVE this gourmet olive oil place!!! Especially for a non-​wine drinker, I walk in and have my own little tasting party with all the vinegars, oils, etc.
The prices are steeeeeep, but for GOOD oil/​vinegar, it’s completely worth it. A foodie paradise.
I also bought my culinary lavender here and have been patting myself on the back since. I’ve made lavender/​sea salt almonds and honey/​lavender cupcakes. Both of which were amazing.
I highly recommend stopping by!

One would argue that $ 18 for a bottle of olive oil is steep, and they would be right. But this olive oil is awesome.

When you’re sick of wine tasting or just plain too tipsy, St. Helena Olive Oil is the perfect stop. Dip little squares of bread into herb infused olive oil and sop up the excess alcohol in your tummy (oh and enjoy the wonderful flavors too!). I picked up a tasty bottle while I was here, though I have yet to bust it out at home (patience, patience…). I wish the staff was a little more outgoing and helpful, we wandered a bit aimlessly… though their products do speak for themselves.

Turn your head and cough.
If you’re like me, you just buy whatever EVOO your local grocer has on the shelf; whether it’s the cheap bottle of store brand stuff or the big bottle of the store brand stuff.
Coming here I was subjected to the «cough test.» No, not the kind a doctor gives men at the annual checkup. You sip the olive oil and the more you cough, the higher quality it supposedly is. Whoda thunk? For my untrained palate, though, I found the coughing sensation off-​putting. However, I can totally understand how stronger oils can really make a bread dip or caprese that much better.
Other than the oils, all of the dips, sauces and spreads are sooooo good. Just don’t come here on an empty stomach or else you’ll find yourself buying more bottles from here than at the wineries you visit. Not that i would know… cough cough.

Three words: CHERRY BALSAMIC VINEGAR. Forget ambrosia, this is the food of the Gods.
I absolutely love this store and went to it a ton while I lived in California. The aioli they have is a killer and so is the lavender honey.
The absolute best olive oil comes from this place (they make their own) and it is imperative that everything that can be sampled, must be. Their olive oil soaps would be a great addition to out of towner bags.
I miss you St. Helena OOCo!

Awesomeness!!!
Free sampling of olive oils, walnut oils, truffle oil, balsamics, pasta sauces (butternut pasta sauce!), salts (truffle salt!), tapenade, honeys and mustards.
Bath salts, creams, milk baths, olive oil soaps, etc smell amazing!
Walk to the back bar area and there’s wine tasting with cheese, crackers, dark chocolate, seating, and a big screen where they show movies sometimes!
This was super fun — I love this place!

Located right on Route 29 justy before Rutherford Grill (one of the two the main arteries on which many, many wineries are located), this place is simplistic in design and display, but a must see, taste and smell.
Olive oils, pasta sauces, jams, honeys and soaps are all throughout the showroom. Try all of the olive oils. Smell the soaps. Make sure you try the balsamic vinegar. It is fantabulous.
Really pretty amazing. IF you like olive oil (and not just EVOO) then this place is soemthing to experience. Sure, a bit pricey ($ 24.00 for 375 ml) but a Napa trip atrracts high end foodies and wine people.
Lemon infused olive oil. Orange infused. Fresh, delicious tastes everywhere.

Yes, expensive but cute little specialty shop. Good place for fancy gifts. Olive oil to pesto sauces to an assortment of fragrant natural bath supplies. Lots out to sample and taste. I couldn’t resist taking home a jar of the raspberry honey! Delicious.

This place is no joke. $ 24 for a (375mL) bottle of oil is steep. It’s Napa. It’s freakin’ awesome. It’s awakening. It’s everything your taste buds can handle and then some (if you haven’t already killed them for the day with all the vino sipping).
Pull-​off Hwy 29 into the gravel shoulder as you approach Rutherford. It’s hard to miss and you wouldn’t want to. Its rustic interior, herbs lingering in the air, is welcoming and so are the employees.
Locally grown and concocted for your semi-​refined palate: oil, pasta & BBQ sauce, tapenade, honey, vinegars… (with the exception of a few Italian balsamics). Sensory overload. Little party in your mouth. Everything from sweet and thick balsamic to spicy (jalapeño and habanero), savory olive oils and a butternut squash pasta sauce that is too good for pasta — just take a spoon straight to the jar.
They make a mean BBQ sauce. Spicy, sweet. Worth the trip alone. Do it.

Why worry about cholesterol when there were parking places right in front of the door. The combination of oil, vinegar and other things to try was too much to resist. I was hoping that a wonderful rusted table I admired on my last stop was still for sale. It was bit out my price range at $ 6000, but I did want to rub it again, but it was gone and replaced with rusty chairs that were not for sale yet. Darn, I have one just like them and wondered if I had a valuable treasure that would fund a vacation.
I rubbed potions and lotions on my hands. I tasted all the vinegars, mustard, salts and sauces. Now, I am not a big fan of olive oil, but I was there, so I tasted most of them. Then I tasted the white truffle oil; it was so delightful I wanted to buy it, even though it was $ 40.00 for the smallish bottle. I figured I could eat Ramen for the next month or two. Then I had a vision of drinking truffle oil cocktails I knew I had stepped over some oil line, so I put it back and bought a small pesto sauce for $ 16.00

Wow what a great place! I have been wanting to check this lace out on our past Napa visits and just never got around to doing so.
So while on our way to our usual picnic lunch at V Sattui we made a pit stop here.
The space is huge and every where you look there is something for you to taste. They have little disposable sample spoons at every display for you to try all their goods.
So many choices from your standard EVO and Balsamic Vinegars to fun flavors for both.
They also have a great selection of salts, herbs, body products as well as BBQ sauces and pasta sauces.
I pretty much wanted to buy everything and every time RL picked something up to look at or try I was quick to say «you want it, lets get it».
Since we were flying I couldn’t go as crazy as I wanted to. Although they do ask you at check out if you would like them to ship it to you for only $ 10.00.
I settled on the Lemon EV Olive Oil, Chipotle BBQ Sauce and the Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce.
A must stop place to fill up your trunk with delicious take aways. I will be checking out their website for maybe a little Christmas shopping. (: