California Ag Network

Tag: Olive Oil Commission

  • Samantha Dorsey, President of McEvoy Ranch, Celebrates 20 years of World-class Extra Virgin Olive Oil

    This year, Samantha Dorsey celebrates her 20th anniversary with McEvoy Ranch. Dorsey began her career on the Garden Team in 2001 before becoming Farming Manager in 2013. In 2016, she was promoted to General Manager, then became the company’s President in 2019. Given her tenure, Samantha is intimately familiar with every aspect of the property including its unique microclimates that provide a distinct terroir to our olive orchards and gardens.

    After receiving her BA in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College in 2001, Samantha began her career with McEvoy Ranch. She has managed the olive tree nursery, as well as the Ranch’s vineyards and orchards. Her focus has always centered on sustainable farming, creating a ranch environment that is environmentally, socially, and fiscally sustainable.

    Samantha adds, “We have built a solid team of talented employees here at McEvoy Ranch dedicated to making and sharing our world-class products, as well as supporting our local community and understanding our role in California agriculture. I love learning from our team and working with staff to improve and innovate in agriculture, product development, hospitality, finance, and operations. I love working with such ancient products (olive oil and wine) in such a modern setting. We have thousands of years of production knowledge to build upon, but we do so with all of our modern tools and sensibilities.”

    As President, Samantha is shepherding McEvoy Ranch into its next stage of growth. She continues to lead workshops on olive orchard management and shares her expertise regarding sustainable farming with other growers in many areas including California, Oregon, Arizona, Mexico, and New Zealand. In addition, Samantha sits on the Executive Committee for the Olive Oil Commission of California and is a board member of the Petaluma Gap Winegrowers Alliance.

    About McEvoy Ranch

    For over 30 years, McEvoy Ranch has made award-winning, estate olive oils, small lot wines, culinary, and olive oil beauty products. Located 30 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the rolling hills of Petaluma, McEvoy Ranch is a 550-acre working, organic ranch, committed to good land stewardship and sustainable farming practices.

  • New Olive Oil Commission of California Chairman

    Brady Whitlow of Corto Olive Company was elected by the OOCC Board to serve as its new Chairman. Whitlow formerly served as the OOCC’s Secretary/Treasurer and he replaces Jeff Colombini, Lodi Farming Company, who has served as Chairman since the OOCC’s inception in 2014. Colombini will continue to serve on the Board and Executive Committee as the Board’s Treasurer/Secretary. Meanwhile, Adam Englehardt, of Boundary Bend Olives/Cobram Estate, will serve as the Board’s Vice Chairman.

    Remaining open seats on the OOCC Board were also filled with Joe Kidd, Executive Vice President of Operations at California Olive Ranch appointed to serve as the District 1 Handler representative and Deborah Rogers, McEvoy Ranch, appointed as the alternate Producer member in District 2.

    Handler representatives in District 2 were also appointed with Ciriaco Chavez, Boundary Bend Olives/Cobram Estates serving as the member and Jim Etters, Seka Hills Olive Mill, as the alternate member.

  • Expert Panels Added to California Olive Oil Day Program

    It’s not too late to register for the Olive Oil Commission of California’s second annual​ ​California Olive Oil Day to be held March 5, 2019 at the Robert J. Cabral Ag Center in Stockton. The event is free and open to all interested industry members.

    The day-long ​program​ will include a morning session from 8:30 a.m. to noon and an afternoon session from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. with lunch in between.

    The morning session will include presentations on OOCC-funded research projects including work done by the UC Davis Olive Center on the OOCC’s mandatory government sampling and testing program along with updates from other University researchers on olive oil pests and diseases. Additionally, the program will include a presentation by a panel of representatives from the UC Davis Olive Center, the California Olive Oil Council, the American Olive Oil Producers Association and the OOCC. Each will provide an overview of the unique activities they conduct to support the olive oil industry.

    Lunch will be served at noon with the afternoon session beginning at 1:00 p.m. This portion of the program features material from the OOCC Olive Oil Quality Workshop developed to educate producers and all sectors of the olive oil supply chain on the best practices to enhance quality and extend shelf life. A panel of olive oil experts has also been added to this presentation and will include: David Garci-Aguirre from Corto Olive Oil; Marcelo Berlanda from California Olive Ranch; Natalia Ruiz from Modern Olives; and Samantha Dorsey from McEvoy Ranch. Panel members will answer questions and present their views on a host of factors affecting the quality of olive oil. Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne, olive oil consultant, will present the quality workshop and moderate the panel discussion.

    Attendees are welcome to come for either or both the morning and afternoon sessions as well as to join us for lunch. For more information on California Olive Oil Day click ​here​. To RSVP for this free event, please contact Tyler Rood at ​tyler@agamsi.com​ by February 28.