EVOO bargain alert!

[Jenise]

I'm doing another big neighborhood event last weekend, and though I'm not a regular Grocery Outlet shopper it's the first place I stop when I'm event-planning because IF they have something I'm going to need, it's going to really help my bottom line. Like 79 cents for dry beans as compared to $2.49 a pound at a local supermarket and $2 a pound for chubbs of frozen ground chicken. On the scale I need, those two items right there saved me about $40, or 15% of budget.

Anyway, couldn't believe my eyes when I saw liter bottles of California Ranch Extra Virgin for $9.99. I bought three. The way I go through olive oil, that's a major find. Probably should have bought more--I keep backups in the wine cellar, so am never worried about it going stale on me. If you have a Grocery Outlet near you, it's worth checking out.

great price for you Westcoasters.
But weren't you worried re freshness? This is mainly a closeout store isn't it?

[Jenise]

great price for you Westcoasters.
But weren't you worried re freshness? This is mainly a closeout store isn't it?

Ye-e-e-e-e-s on both counts. You're right that it's a risk. But I opened a bottle as soon as I got home, and it's identical to what I bought direct from the Ranch four-five months ago (a six pack) so I'm happy.

The Costco here has it for the same price. The local Grocery Outlets havent been very good lately with wine and such.

[Jenise]

The Costco here has it for the same price. The local Grocery Outlets havent been very good lately with wine and such.

The wines at ours are nearly always cooked OR they're geriatric, cheap-to-begin-with Australian wine of low pedigree. However, memories of a high end $30 South African chardonnay made in a truly worthy burgundian style for $3--I went back and bought every bottle--linger, and so I look. Yesterday I picked up an Italian Aglianico that's halfway to vinegar already, and a 2000 vintage Cotes de Francs that was actually rather credible for $7. That is, I'm not going back for more but we enjoyed it enough to finish the bottle.

Anyway, couldn't believe my eyes when I saw liter bottles of California Ranch Extra Virgin for $9.99. I bought three. The way I go through olive oil, that's a major find. Probably should have bought more--I keep backups in the wine cellar, so am never worried about it going stale on me. If you have a Grocery Outlet near you, it's worth checking out.

Jenise, we have a Grocery Outlet here and one of our local chefs loves it. She sends out weekly emails on bargins she finds there. Mainly on wine, cheese, olive oils, chocolate, and such. I am so bad at bargin hunting....I should try harder to do this.

Thanks for the reminder! Haven't been to GO in a while. We're good on olive oil, but I'll go browse the wine....

I have to agree on the quality of the bottling at Costco for a very cheap price. Vivid green color, very fruity (maybe a bit too much, actually), slight peppery burn, but overall excellent. Certified by the California Olive Oil council, so you know it's actually extra virgin and has been chemically tested. Someone at Costco has good taste in olive oil.

[Jenise]

I haven't seen it at Costco, should look.

But Walt, can an olive oil be TOO fruity? Not for me, though for a lot of things I admittedly want a neutral flavor--for that, I keep safflower oil around.

Dear Jenise,
Can a wine be too fruity? I would say yes to both questions. With olive oil I'm looking for a some herbal, green olive flavor, and the impression this oil gives is more of a fruit dominance. Still delicious, just not my preferred style.

[Jenise]

Dear Jenise,
Can a wine be too fruity? I would say yes to both questions. With olive oil I'm looking for a some herbal, green olive flavor, and the impression this oil gives is more of a fruit dominance. Still delicious, just not my preferred style.

Fair enough.

Years ago, I cut my teeth on great olive oil when house guests-to-be had a six pack of air-shipped, just-bottled Tuscan single-orchard olive oils from the Rare Wine Company shipped to us for a fun and educational horizontal tasting upon their arrival. I'd never had anything remotely close. Fruit galore, and lots of spice, pepper, artichoke, and you-name-it kind of flavors. It was a stunning revelation about what EVOO can be and I compare every olive oil I taste to that experience. Most disappoint, so it's a surprise when something like this California Olive Ranch does not.