ATHENA – THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NAME

Athena: The Greek goddess of oil, peace & war, also the daughter of Zeus.

Athens, the capitol of Greece is named after the Goddess Athena; she is the goddess of Wisdom and War. She is known for her strategic skill in warfare, is often portrayed as a companion of heroes, and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavor.  Athena was born from Zeus after he experienced an enormous headache, and she sprang fully-grown and in full armor from his forehead.

Athena serves as a guardian of Athens, where the Parthenon serves as her temple. The olive trees on the Acropolis remain a symbol of Athena’s work.

The owl was her bird, and the olive tree was hers to protect.  We have owls at IL Fiorello to watch over the farm.

Wielding wisk and ladle, pots and pans, hair blowing in the wind, our beautiful weathervane by Phil Glasshoff is also named Athena.  She is the symbol of our cooking school, the Kitchen in the Grove, and she points our way forward into the Suisun wind.

We named our award-winning oil, Athena’s Blend, to honor her history, a heroic endeavor.   This oil is a field blend of Frantoio, Leccino, and Pendolino. We harvest the olives by hand. We mill the oil with great care, and with strict temperature and time controls, to protect the flavor of the oil.  We store the oil in a dark temperature-controlled room, and cover it with an inert gas to prevent oxidation.  We do just-in-time bottling to ensure the freshness of each bottle. Athena’s Blend is one of our most highly awarded olive oils.

The flavor profile

Frantoio – Bold and pungent

Leccino – Luscious with a velvety texture

Pendolino – Green and herbaceous

We enter olive oil competitions to benchmark our oils, to make sure that we are presenting the very best oils in the world to our guests.  We are named by the New York competition as one of the world’s best olive oils. The 2017 harvest of Athena’s Blend won the following medals in six competitions.

Japan International competition – Gold

New York International competition – Gold

LA International Competition – Bronze

Yolo California competition – Bronze

Napa California Competition –Best of Show, Best of Class & Gold

State Fair California – Silver

Our 2018 harvest was devastatingly small, an 80% reduction in crop size; so, we did not harvest our Athena’s Blend. Rather, we allowed the trees to rest and recuperate from the 2017 harvest and heavy pruning.  Next year will be better. Farming is interesting and humbling.

Please enjoy our Athena’s Blend; it is one of the best in the world.

Ciao

Ann