Get ‘em while they’re fresh

For those who haven’t experienced the startling deliciousness of newly pressed and year-fresh olive oil, now is the time to try. Growers from Ojai to the Bay Area have finished pressing, blending and bottling their 2003-04 oils and are now releasing them. They are so good, it is even the time to prefer local oils over the best Italian imports. The reason: Olive oil is a fruit juice. Freshness is all. Straight from the press, it is wild, sometimes harsh and spicy for the first 90 days. For the next year, it is beautifully fresh and fruity-tasting. Past that, age fates the oil to loss of fruit and creeping rancidity. Rot sets in faster when bottles are displayed in the sun or near the stove instead of where they belong: a cool dark place.

The new California oils are extra virgin and all that, but much better than most European imports, particularly the suspiciously cheap “extra virgin” ones sold in most food stores. Buy cheaper oils to grease the omelet pan. But pay premium for California-grown new-release olive oils for garnishing soups, cheeses, fish and salads. Or use it to rediscover pesto. Don’t be stingy with them and, whatever you do, don’t save them for special occasions. Pour generously and often.

For information, contact the California Olive Oil Council at (888) 718-9830 or www.cooc.com/home.html.

Pasolivo

A superb oil -- cloudy, green, full of grassy flavors. Made in Paso Robles in the sharp Italian style with Frantoio, Pendolino, Lucca, Leccino and Moraiolo olives. Pressed in November and December, rested to mellow the harsh notes.

$22 for 300 milliliters at the Sunday Santa Monica farmers market on Main Street and the Wednesday market at the Windrose Farm stall, or on the Internet at www.willowcreekoliveranch.com/oil.htm or at (805) 227-0186.

Frantoio 2003 Autumn Harvest

The best quality for the price. Bottled by an Italian in Mill Valley, Frantoio’s Green Label Estate Blend comes from classic Tuscan-style olives: Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino and Coratina. The result is a piquant, sophisticated oil with just the right blend of floral and vegetal notes.

$22 for 750 milliliters. Sold in good food stores and at www.frantoio.com/ or (415) 289-5777.

Stella Cadente 2003 Autumn Harvest

From an autumn harvest of classic Tuscan olive types and smooth old-style Mission olives. Stella Cadente is Italian for Shooting Star, the Boonville ranch where the oil is made -- and an apt label for this peppery and herbaceous oil that’s good for garnishes.

$18 for 375 milliliters. Order at www.stellacadente.com or at (707) 895-2848.

Balzana 2004

One of the most reliable California oils, made with milder old Mission olive types brought from Spain by the Franciscans. This year, the olives came from old farms in the Sierra foothills, and the oil was extracted at a new press in Santa Barbara. One of the first producers to date bottles.

Available from fine food shops around Southern California, and at $16 for 375 milliliters from Balzana at (831) 475-7873.

The Olive Press Mission Organic

Voted “Best of Class” in ’03 at the Los Angeles County Fair for oils made in the classic California style: mild and sweetly herbaceous. Offers all the benefits of freshness without the sometimes harsh notes of the Tuscan styles. Pressed by a group of olive-growing pioneers and now sold through its collective press in Glen Ellen.

$18 for 500 milliliters from www.theolivepress.com or at (707) 939-8900.