I participated in an "agricultural tour" of a few locations in the Sacramento Valley. Matson and Isom was hosting an annual accounting conference in Chico and this tour and I asked if I was interested in attending... of course!
We first met in Chico and drove to River West farms off Hwy 45. They are both almond producers and processors. This facility was spotless. It was probably the cleanest agricultural processing facility I've ever seen. These folks export a lot of almonds overseas and their buyers want it clean. Impressive folks, impressive location... thanks for the 10 lbs. of raw almonds too!
www.riverwestprocessing.com
Our next visit was of Lucero Olive Oil in Corning. I'm a fan of Lucero, they certainly have taken olive oil to the next level. Now if they can take Corning to the next level, then I'll be a devout follower. We had a quick tour of the processing facility. I have had to appraise olive oil equipment for a local producer before, so I was quite interested with their malaxer.
They were passing out samples of the Mandarin orange olive oil with a small bit of vanilla ice cream- and WOW I was sold. Thanks, once again, Lucero, for the great olive oil. I always leave with a new flavor, basil, garlic, and don't even get me started on the flavors of balsamic too.
My hat is off to Dewey Lucero (also a Cal Poly SLO graduate) who is apparently the one responsible for their new venture. Keep up the great work!
http://lucerooliveoil.com/
We went to Lassen Steak House for lunch. Yep. Right off the 99 at Vina. Yep. I was once told if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it at all. So, moving on.
When in Vina, you do as the Trappist monks do. Luckily they grow great wine in a phenomenal location- the New Clairvaux Vineyard. We learned about the impressive history of the property, took a small tour of the grounds, toured the Sacred Stones project (the reconstruction of an 800 year old Cistercian monastery from Spain) and tasted some wine. The wine was great, it was a nice warm day and at the first sip of Albarino and I was sold. The Abbots Reserve was also great. I was extremely close to joining the wine club, but decided that if I came back and still enjoyed the wines, they may have to be my "local" wine club.
http://www.newclairvauxvineyard.com/
Our group got on the bus and headed straight for Chico. Next stop- Sierra Nevada Brewery. How much more do I need to say here? I've never been on the tour before, and it is very well done. It is absolutely worth the time. There is some beer sampling at the end (I've already done my homework) but I did enjoy chatting with the tour guide regarding new beers on the horizon.
http://www.sierranevada.com/
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