Olive Oil from Apollo Olive Oil : Gourmet Extra Virgin Organic Olive Oil from California

Five of us, who have known each other for over twenty years, make up the backbone of Apollo Olive Oil. It is exceedingly fortunate that we have complementary skills, for no one person could master all the facets of quality olive oil production. And it is equally fortunate that so many friends and family members lean in to help: the harvest and milling period is so intense that loving support is absolutely necessary!

Edward Klaner owns and operates the stone mill. After a long study of the options, and an even longer search for the perfect press, he and I finally found the right one in Pescara, on the east coast of Italy. After thirty years of service, it had been set aside for a more commercially viable, highly mechanized system.

Finding the press turned out to be the easy part. Negotiating a price was an adventure, arranging for packing and shipping an epic tale. But it was the year and a half after arrival in California (1997) which truly tested Edward’s mettle. Some of the pieces, it turned out, were mismarked, others rusted, still others needed alteration to American specifications. Edward spent evenings, weekends, and any other moment that could be stolen from daily responsibilities to reassemble the press, in a building constructed expressly for the purpose.

Gianni Stefanini runs the new mill and overviews all aspects of operations. Having worked intensively with Marco Mugelli both in Italy and here, he is perhaps the most highly trained miller in America. Born in Mantova, he emigrated here in the early 1980’s and worked in the wine industry, acquiring skills which are highly adaptable to the making of olive oil.

Care of the trees is my specialty. I have twenty-five years of organic agricultural experience here in California, and have traveled extensively around the Mediterranean to study how other people grow olives. In addition to managing upwards of 100 acres of olives, I continue to farm organic cherries, peaches, pears and heirloom apples.

Trained as a wine-maker in Bordeaux, Edward Schulten made his living as a sommelier in Dallas before relocating here in the foothills, also in the early 80’s, where he has been making private label wines for the last fifteen years. He blends Apollo Olive Oil, meticulously tracking our numerous barrels of individually batched oils, and guiding our production steadily toward completed blends.

And finally, Pablo Voitzuk keeps us all on track, competent in each of the activities and acting as our glue. He is also our key presence in local markets, including demos and tastings as well as liaison with grocery managers. Pablo is also an excellent vegetarian chef with an extensive knowledge of foods around the world.

Working with friends like this over the last nine years, one lesson has deeply imprinted itself on me: that while the ancient olive, and all of its products, is the perfect foundation for a community, it is really the people--and the way they work together--which finally determines the quality and character of that community.


Neighbors Come to Share the Labor, and the Pleasures, of Harvest.