Bondolio Holiday Open House: December 8 in Winters

 

One of our favorite holiday-season habits is to go out to Malcolm and Karen Bond’s frantoio (olive mill) in Winters for their lively holiday party. We’ve attended in all kinds of weather, but it’s always fun to gather on the patio next to the olive grove where a fire crackles in a huge outdoor fireplace and the wood-burning oven cranks out pizzas. We enjoy greeting friends, tasting the Bond’s newly made olive oils and other artisanal delights, and shopping for culinary gifts.

The star of the party is always the Bond’s olio nuovo (new olive oil), which is both prized and extremely limited. In addition, we’ll enjoy tastes of their 2024 extra virgin olive oil and two co-crushed flavored oils, one crushed with mandarin oranges and the other with Hatch green chiles, which we watched being made for the first time ever when we visited in early November.

Everyone is welcome to the 2024 Bondolio Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 8 from 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free and no reservations are necessary. Most activities are outside on the patio and in the open-air part of the frantoio. Guided tastings and shopping are available inside.

Here’s our guide to the event:

1. First, take a moment to admire the gorgeous organic olive grove setting.
2. Then place your order for one of Malcolm’s pizzas made in the outdoor wood-burning oven. You’ll want to try it drizzled with olio nuovo. The pizzas, along with wines, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages, are available for purchase and enjoyment on the patio.
3. At the tasting room, get your name on the list for a guided tasting of the 2024 Bondolio Olio Nuovo, Bondolio 2024 Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and 2024 Mandarin Orange Olive Oil.
4. From 11am to 1pm in the open-air section of the frantoio, you’ll have the chance to meet chef instructor and food writer Viola Buitoni and sample one of her signature recipes. She will be signing copies of her marvelous cookbook, ITALY BY INGREDIENT: Artisanal Foods / Modern Recipes.
5. There’s lots more to taste at the frantoio: Allison McQuade’s artisan Celtic Chutneys will be available for sampling with cheese and crackers, and you can enjoy tastes of French-inspired aperitifs handcrafted by L’Apéro les Trois from Berryessa Gap wines, which are infused with fruit from historic Winters orchards. Returning this year will be The HIVE of Woodland, offering a honey tasting, and another guest favorite, Runamok, will offer samples of their popular organic maple syrups from Vermont.
6. The marketplace inside the frantoio offers culinary gifts and confections from Italy, Spain, and France, along with cookbooks, artisan pantry staples, and gifts for the home.

A portion of proceeds from the event will be donated to Angel Flight West, where volunteer pilots fly people in need to medical appointments at no cost to the passenger.

Visit bondolio.com for more information. The Bondolio Olive Farm is located at 9352 Campbell Road about 5 miles east of downtown Winters.

 

 

 

About Bondolio Olive Farm

A passion for Sicily, its culture, foodways, and especially the olive oil, moved Karen and Malcolm Bond to transform their ten-acre almond orchard into a traditional Sicilian olive grove. Dedicated stewards of the land, they have ensured that both the olive orchard and their on-site, custom-designed mill are certified organic. Bondolio is an elegant and unique California extra virgin olive oil blended from nocellara, biancolilla, and cerasuola olives. This blend, while readily found in Southern Italy and Sicily, is quite rare among oils produced in California. A four-time Good Food Award winner, critically acclaimed Bondolio has received many awards, including Best in Show at the California State Fair in 2017 and 2019, and frequent gold medals from several prestigious international olive oil competitions.

For updates and tasting and tours by appointment, contact Malcolm and Karen Bond, owners, growers, and millers at 916.715.9007 and  Orders@bondolio.com.