Red Ridge Farms Brings Traditional Italian Olio Nuovo Festa to the Willamette Valley

Oregon Olive Mill’s Olio Nuovo Olive Oil will also be the star of local restaurant menus during the festa weekend as chefs create special dishes using the fresh olive oil

DAYTON, Ore. (August 2, 2012) – Those looking to experience a traditional Italian Olio Nuovo festa no longer need to cross the Atlantic and can instead stay stateside and head to Oregon’s bountiful Willamette Valley. The Oregon Olive Mill at Red Ridge Farms celebrates their 2012 olive harvest and olive oil pressing with the 4^th annual Olio Nuovo Festa the weekend of November 16-18. Visitors will see firsthand how the olive oil is made on the Oregon Olive Mill’s imported Italian olive press and sample the fresh new olive oils, including Arbequina from Spain and Koroneiki from Greece, as well as a blend of Italian varietals known as Tuscan. Area restaurants are joining in on the festivities by creating a special dish made with Olio Nuovo olive oil and featuring it on their menus the weekend of the festival, providing guests with the chance to taste how the unique flavor of the olive oil can be highlighted in a dish after they have seen how it was made.

“In Italy and now in Oregon, we are celebrating the new olive harvest, fresh from the orchard during the Olio Nuovo Festa,” says owner and general manager, Paul Durant. “Fresh cold-pressed olive oil has long been recognized as the finest, best tasting olive oil and eagerly sought after for its fruity, grassy flavors. By collaborating with area restaurants during our festa weekend we provide our guests with the opportunity to taste how these flavors can enhance dishes.”

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has been known for its pinot noir and pinot gris grapes for the past four decades and now, thanks to visionaries like the Durant family, olive oil is emerging as a new agricultural and culinary trend in Oregon. The Durant Family first planted a small olive orchard in 2005 at Red Ridge Farms and now have 13, 000 olive trees on 17 acres in the Willamette Valley. Four years ago they built the Oregon Olive Mill, the first olive processing facility in Yamhill County and largest commercial mill in the Northwest. 

Olio Nuovo Festa – November 16-18, 2012

The three-day traditional Italian event honors the first pressing of artisan olive oil- celebrating the olive, the harvest and the pressing of the Olio Nuovo olive oil, which has a spicier flavor with a shorter shelf life than extra virgin olive oil. The Durant family will also pour tastes of their estate wines from Durant Vineyards. Guests can purchase olive oil by hand-filling a bottle from the fusti’s (stainless steel decanters).

About Red Ridge Farms
Red Ridge Farms, as featured in “Food & Wine Magazine” and “EveryDay with Rachael Ray” magazine, is a family-owned, unique destination in Oregon’s Willamette Valley with a nursery and garden shop, the Oregon Olive Mill, and Durant Vineyards. Two lodging accommodations are available for guests: a one-bedroom guest suite overlooking the valley and the two-bedroom Stoneycrest Cottage, which overlooks Durant Vineyards. Both properties are available to rent by the night, weekend or week and feature full kitchens and breathtaking views. The Durants planted their first vineyard in the Dundee Hills of Oregon in 1973 and are pioneers in Oregon’s wine industry. Leading the way in agricultural ventures, the Durants opened Red Ridge Farms, an herb and specialty plant nursery, in 2001 and have planted one of the largest olive groves in Oregon. At the Oregon Olive Mill, they process their olives into oil using olive varietals grown on site, including Arbequina and Picual from Spain; Leccino, Pendolino and Coratina from Italy; and Koroneiki from Greece. Until the trees reach their full maturity, the bottled olive oil is augmented by additional olives from California. The Oregon Olive Mill also houses an event space, used for corporate and private events, with a patio overlooking the Willamette Valley and Red Ridge’s olive grove and lavender field. Durant Vineyards provides wine grapes to premier Oregon wineries and also produces more than 1,600 cases of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. The property features a new tasting room, offering visitors a chance to taste their way through the 100-percent estate wines and learn about each from experienced staff while taking in the picturesque views of Dundee’s Red Hills from the wraparound porch. Red Ridge also offers Club membership, which includes two shipments a year of wine, olive oil and other specialty items that pair with them. Shipments are typically sent out in late spring and early fall. Members also receive a discount every time they shop at Red Ridge Farms, complimentary wine tasting year round and special member events. For more information about upcoming events and lodging availability, call (503) 864-8502. Red Ridge Farms is located at 5510 NE Breyman Orchard Road in Dayton, Ore. Find more information at www.redridgefarms.com, on Facebook, or on Twitter @OregonOliveMill.