Are those Instagram olive oils worth the price? By Jane Black | Consumed Substack

As the new crop of olive oils hit shelves this month, I’ve been thinking about something that Terry [Theise] told me all those years ago — not about olive oil, but about Champagne. Terry was a fan of what are called “growers’ Champagnes,” the small producers who make and bottle their own sparkling wine rather than selling their grapes to the big Champagne houses [...] who then blend them and market their prestige bottles at top dollar. At least some of what you were paying for, Terry explained, was the fancy bottle, the box, and all that marketing.

In the era of Instagram, this feels increasingly true of olive oil. Over the last several years, new California brands ... have built big followings on social media, and earned themselves plenty of ink. Like a French Champagne house, these brands buy bulk oils from small producers, blend them, and package the blends in sexy bottles. [...] But the truth is that you are paying a serious premium for the pretty packaging, buzzy collabs, and social media marketing of an “Instagram oil,” rather than what’s actually inside the bottle. Why not pay less — and directly support California olive oil producers?

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Gold Ridge Organic Farms: This farm near the Sonoma Coast has a later harvest than other farms. We tasted the fresh nuovo oil — which was rich with a fiery but pleasant hit on the back of the throat. 

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