But for room- temperature uses like salads, bruschetta, pesto, pan con tomate, gazpacho, or just dunking bread (and definitely don\u2019t add balsamic to it, the foodies are very specific on this<\/a> point lately!), a nice olive oil is a must. Once you\u2019ve recognized the value of olive oil as a major flavor component, you\u2019ll want to have at least one bottle of the good stuff lying around.<\/p>\n As for what to look for, a spokesperson for local producer Verni Gold suggests, \u201cSomething that tastes smooth going down, with a little bite at the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That \u201cbite\u201d comes from the polyphenols<\/a>, the presence of which are said to be a sign of a quality product. By contrast, a rancid olive is often described<\/a> as smelling and tasting musty, or \u201cwaxy.\u201d If your olive oil smells anything like a crayon, it\u2019s time to throw it out.\u00a0<\/p>\n For our taste test, we tasted blind, pitting all the local product we could find against some mid-shelf and fancier Middle Eastern oils, plus some even higher end stuff straight from Lucca, Italy. We sipped plain, and dunked, with some small pieces of French bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some overall conclusions<\/p>\n Possibly the main conclusion we came to is that yes, our local olive oils do stack up to the fancy imported stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n Every taster had one or two locals in their top three. Which means that you can feel good buying local not just out of a sense of altruism or homerism, but because it actually tastes the best too. As the old foodie adage goes<\/a>, \u201cwhat grows together goes together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Competitors<\/p>\n Bari, Dinuba<\/a><\/p>\n Fresno State Olive Oil, Fresno<\/a><\/p>\n Enzo\u2019s Table, Clovis<\/a> (we tested the \u201cbold\u201d and the \u201cdelicate\u201d labels)<\/p>\n Verni Gold, Clovis<\/a><\/p>\n Rankings<\/p>\n 1. Bari Traditional Extra Virgin Olive Oil<\/p>\n Tasting Notes<\/p>\n According to their website, Bari, have been growing and producing olive oil in the Central Valley since 1936. Brothers Kyle and Ryan Sawatzky took it over in 2007<\/a>, adding new machinery and expanding the operation. They offer a few different labels \u2013Traditional, Organic, Arbequina, Arbosana, and Koroneiki. The traditional was the only one we could get our hands on as of press time, sadly, but it was certainly a damn fine olive oil, easily a match for high-end olives from elsewhere in the world.<\/p>\n Final Thoughts<\/p>\n Not super pungent on the nose, but leans toward grassy and nutty. On the palate, the grassy nuttiness of the nose gives way to a much more buttery, fruity taste. Pinches the back of the throat a little on the finish. Especially good on bread, with a buttery and pleasant mouthfeel.<\/p>\n 2. Enzo\u2019s Table Bold<\/p>\n Tasting Notes<\/p>\n Rich gold-green in color, and very grassy on the nose. Butteriness rounds out the grassiness on the palate, with a distinct pinch in the throat going down. Very nice.<\/p>\n Final Thoughts<\/p>\n Enzo\u2019s Table, with a grand new retail store just opened on the southeast corner of Willow and Shepard in Clovis, certainly carries itself the most like an artisanal label, relative to other Central Valley olive oils (not an especially high bar). The retail store is spotless and immaculate, looking almost more like an event space than a place to buy olive oil and fancy nuts. It\u2019s nice to see that, even stripped of all the professional trappings in a blind taste test, the olive oil itself lives up to the branding.<\/p>\n Owned by the Ricchuiti family, Enzo\u2019s offers three main labels \u2013 Bold, Delicate, and Medium \u2014 along with a bunch of flavor-infused options that we don\u2019t really mess with. We tested the Bold and the Delicate, and the Bold won out this time, though your mileage may vary. They also offer tastings at their retail location so you can try before you buy. For what it\u2019s worth, their tasting notes from the Bold label read \u201cRobust and well-balanced with notes of grass and green tea.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Fresno State Miller\u2019s Blend<\/p>\n Tasting Notes<\/p>\n Big, round grassy notes on the nose. Sort of what you imagine when you imagine what olive oil smells like \u2013 green and piney and a little nutty. Those same notes come through on the palate, but in a way that\u2019s sort of light and not too astringent.<\/p>\n Final Thoughts<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_1387-1024x683.jpg\")
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