On Friday Rick and I took a little road trip to the town of Murphys. I had a table to drop off for my niece Sara and we wanted to see the new olive oil tasting bar she manages in Murphys, CA.
The drive from our house to Sara's is one of our favorites. It takes about 90 minutes and most of the time we are on a gently meandering two lane highway through low hills with grazing cattle and charming farmhouses. Bucolic comes to mind.
Wouldn't you know it I forgot my camera again (I've been doing that a lot lately) so these pictures were taken with my cellphone and don't adequately capture how lovely Murphys is.
The owner of Marisolio, Mary Lou Schuster, has a 43-acre olive oil ranch with over 4000 olive trees in Copperopolis. She has been selling her olive oils locally and decided to open up a tasting room. The tasting room features over 25 varieties of olive oil and over 20 varieties of balsamic vinegar.
She also has olive related items; dipping plates, linens (like the hand embroidered towels above), jars of olives and tapenades.
But the main event is the tasting bar. There are metal casks (called a fusti) filled with different varieties of olive oils and ceramic casks with balsamic vinegars.
Sara first set me up with a taste of chipotle infused olive oil with fig balsamic vinegar. Sweet with a warm kick to it. Then I tasted the honey ginger white balsamic vinegar which has an Asian flavor to it. I can see it used in a vinegrette for a Chinese chicken salad or to marinate chicken for a stirfry.
I ended up buying a herb infused olive oil, the fig balsamic vinegar and the honey ginger white balsamic vinegar. I could have easily picked about ten more but I showed some restraint.
I kind of wish I had also bought the chipotle olive oil because while Sara was ringing me up Cathy, one of Marisolio's staff, mentioned that she had made hummus with it and immediately I had a craving for hummus and crostini.
Well I'll use it at an excuse to go back up there.
After visiting Sara we strolled down Main Street. Murphys really is a charming little town. Lots of wine tasting and nice restaurants. We popped into Nelson's candy store for some toffee before heading back to our car and heading home.
Marisolio is located at 488 Main Street, Murphys, CA. Stop in and say hi to Sara. And try the blueberry balsamic vinegar and the basil olive oil. Both of those are next on my list.
Hi Andrea, So nice to know that you were in town on the weekend. Yes, it certainly is a great olive oil tasting room where Sara is the manager. And, she is so good at it! About three more houses across the street from the church and you would have been in front of my house. Sometime when you are in town, it would be nice to meet you folks. Maybe, we all (Sara, Ryan etc.) can go for dinner. I continue to enjoy your blog.
Andrea, Don’t let the chicks hear what you can do with the olive oil. I understand they can be very sensitive to this kind of talk.
The place looks great, a definite, must go and see.
WOW… your phone takes some pretty good pics! Thanks for sharing, looks like a fun trip!