Terra Sávia

Malting barley

Trellised hops

Doug and I went to Terra Sávia in Hopland at the request of Yvonne Hall, co-owner of Terra Savia and Olivino.  Friends of Yvonne began a beer-ingredient growing operation on her property, but the principle player in the project left a year  ago, thereby letting the project fall to the way-side.  Yvonne asked us to inspect the malting barley and assess its viability.  It looked ripe and ready for harvest.  Adjacent to the barley field were four types of hops: cascade, willamette, nugget, and chinook.  Yvonne expressed concern about the hops as well, since no one cared for these plants anymore.  I weighed in on the state of the hops, which unwittingly gave away my interest and experience with beer brewing.  I'll pick up on this point later. 

After assessing the barley, Yvonne gave us a tour of the tasting room and production facility.  This California Certified Organic Farm (CCOF) produces wine, olive oil, skin care products, and honey, which are displayed on reclaimed wood furniture crafted by Yvonne's friends who are part of the beer-ingredient cultivation project. 

Tasting room

Barrel turned bench

Award winning wines

We didn't taste any of their wines on site, but we bought a bottle of their Merlot.  I'm not sensitive to wines, but it had a full-bodied palate and did not leave any unpleasant lingering tastes. 

Olive oil selection

Their olive oils contained high levels of anti-oxidants, which one can feel as a zing in the back of the throat when tasting oils.

Left to right: Doug, stone olive press, Yvonne

These stone mills crush olives to press out the oil.  The stones are heavy enough to crack the seeds, so one can imagine the foundation needed to support the weight of three rotating stones.  If you can't imagine, well, the foundation consists of a six-foot deep concrete base.

Doug and steel blade olive press

Yvonne said that the steel blade olive press works as well, if not better, than the stone mill for making olive oil.  The stone mills are for aesthetics, labelling, and meeting hype, according to her.

Separator

After olives are split and crushed, they go through a separator to remove the pulp and seeds from the oil.  Those discards go into the tanks on the right of the photo.  Yvonne said that cheap "extra virgin olive oil" comes from chemically extracting oils from these discards.

Centrifuge separator

The oil goes through a final separation process.

Bottling station

...And eventually to the bottling station.

Olive and olive pit compost

The discards go to the garden to become a cushy, weed-suppressing pathway between row crops.

Hand-picked calendula

Organic calendula

Their row crops include organic calendula that are hand-picked for use in the moisturizing skin care products.  I found these golden petals drying in one of their "tiny house" tasting rooms built by Ben Frey.

Small house tasting room

Patio of tasting room

If you're ever in Hopland, I highly recommend tasting Terra Sávia's olive oil and honey.  The wildflower honey is densely laden with floral flavours that will leave you speechless.  It's like eating a meadow without dealing with pollen allergies.

Doug, Yvonne, and I went over to the Hopland Ale House for a beer club night.  Once Doug left, Yvonne propositioned me about helping out with the development of a microbrewery at Terra Sávia.  I was flattered and excited by the offer, but I feel committed to my current apprenticeship.  I said that I'd be glad to help by offering whatever hop propagation and brewing knowledge that might be relevant.  Yvonne liked the sound of that and suggested that we meet with the other beer-ingredient-growing project members.  We discussed the possibility of simply growing organic hop rhizomes to supply the growing organic beer production line.  We'll see what happens!

Another happy surprise was that the new owner of the Hopland Ale House is a former college classmate of mine.  We haven't seen each other in six years!  What an unlikely place to converge.