New episode drop: An olive oil taste explosion
Olive oil tasting at Grove 45 + ICYMI and a giveaways sneak preview!
Welcome back! This week’s episode of “The WTAF Show: Women. Travel. Art. Food.” takes you to the splendid tasting room at Grove 45 Olive Oil Co., outside Calistoga in the Napa Valley area.
Here's the good news: Whether you’re doing Dry January or you just don’t do alcohol, one need not drink to enjoy Napa. This area is all about the goods and the flavors that come from the soil.
Take the humble olive: how many directions can it go? The options are literally endless.
Ana and Marcela Hernandez are the mother-daughter duo behind Grove 45. When their family relocated to Napa from Guatemala, they discovered their new property was home to a grove of more than 5,000 olive trees, planted nearly 150 years ago by legendary winemaker Charles Krug.
Today, those olives are the shining star of the Grove 45 experience. Dawn Bryant joined me for an afternoon at Grove 45 with Marcela Hernandez, a small business CEO with big ambitions. (Ana, meanwhile, works behind the scenes creating the foccaccia, ice cream and other facets of the tasting experience.) You must stop in and try it for yourself – you won’t believe how full you’ll be at the end of it: oils, foccaccia, ice cream, chocolates, charcuterie, popcorn and more!
And don't worry: if you're hell bent on wine, Grove 45 has recently unveiled Museion Wines, named for the palace dedicated to the mythical Greek muses. It's a delicious rose, an ideal palate cleanser through your tasting; Grove 45 even offers it as a sorbet. (Again, though, not a mandate!)
Catch the episode and put a Grove 45 tasting on your Napa must-do list!
In case you missed it (ICYMI): Last week’s episode, our first weekly of the year, is also live on our channel — a splendid chemistry class with Sharon Kazan Harris, owner and vintner at Rarecat Wines. Check it out — and stay tuned, because we have a second Rarecat episode dropping in a few weeks: champagne, other sparkling wines. Science makes bubbles taste SO good. Link here to the Rarecat online store!
We hope you’re enjoying these shorter, snackable episodes. Our entire purpose is to inspire you to travel yourself through the stories of amazing women chefs, artists and entrepreneurs like Ana, Marcela, and Sharon.
We also want to tickle your interest in trying what you see for yourself. Perhaps you can’t get to Napa or San Francisco right now, so check episode notes and links in these messages—we want to make it as easy as possible to shop these terrific businesses.
Plus, next week we’ll debut a series of giveaways, chances for you to win products and experiences—olive oil gift sets from Grove 45, the splendid cookbook “Arabiyya!” from James Beard-honored Chef Reem Assil (a February episode!), to a private wine tasting for four at an ultra, world-class vineyard (shh… that episode drops next week!).
This year is off to a tasty start! So much is happening, and so much more to come: may it pique your own interest in travel and great experiences. LFG!
#travellikeawoman