Products

Olive Oil

The fruit is handpicked as well as raked off the trees using pneumatic combs and tarps to collect the olives. The harvest typically run thru November, and the exact dates depend upon the variety of olive and weather for the year.  We use our own Oliomio Italian made hammer mill press to extract the oil.  We process all of our fruit the same day or within 24hrs of harvest to assure the best flavor profile.

Once the oil is pressed it undergoes a natural gravity separation that takes approximately six weeks. It may also be lightly filtered to provide a final clearing, if required.  The oil is stored in stainless steel containers during the separation process.  Once the oil has cleared it’s ready to be bottled. 

All oils are independently lab certified for Free Fatty Acid and Peroxide.  We have exceeded all quality standards for Extra Virgin Olive Oil since our inception.  In addition the oil is blind taste tested by experts at the California Olive Oil Council and certified Extra Virgin.

The Villa Barone currently has 7 varieties of olives used principally for Extra Virgin olive oil production, as well as several canning varieties.

For our “Tuscan” style oil we blend Frantoio, Lecchino, Pendolino and Maurino varieties. We also offer Arbequina and Kalamata olive oil. To round out our oil offering we purchase Mission fruit annually, thus allowing us to offer 4 varieties of oil to suite every taste.  Sevilliano & Kalamata trees are being grown to assure a strong supply of high quality olives for our olive food products we plan to bring on line in 2013.

Soap

We use the cold processing method to make soap.  This means once the fats and oils are liquefied no additional heat is added to complete the process.  The reaction that creates the soap supplies the heat necessary to complete the process. 

Soap is made by converting fats (in our case vegetable fats and oils, we never use animal fats) in the presence of a sodium hydroxide solution.  The fats and the oils are consumed along with the sodium hydroxide, and the soap is created.  All of our soaps are formulated with 8% more fat than required to consume all the sodium hydroxide.  This process, known as super fatting, assures that all the sodium hydroxide is consumed.  The excess fat or oil also gives the soap a creamier texture.