O Olive Oil & Vinegar: California Vinegars That Make You Say “Oh”

Go where the olives grow, and you might find vinegar. That’s what happened when Greg Hinson founded O Olive Oil (& Vinegar) in 1995, crushing fresh Arbequina and Arbosana olives to make exemplary organic and artisan olive oils. In 1997, O entered the vinegar game, using wine made from grapes grown in the California sun for an exceptional line of acid. Hinson called the two lines in tandem, “perfect pairings,” incorporating seasonal produce to an already solid base product, and because of these highest quality ingredient endeavors, O has been a leader in both categories (olive oil and vinegar) since.

Currently, O vinegars are made in Sonoma County, in the heart of wine country, but in the next few years they’ll move their facilities east, to Dixon, where they process their olive oils, just outside Sacramento. This will consolidate their businesses and bring vinegar production alongside their glistening glossy olive oils. Soon you’ll be able to find their bright and spritzy Citrus Champagne vinegar, flowery and slightly sweet Orange Blossom vinegar and an oak-aged Mission Fig Balsamic vinegar, which is juicy and dark like a digestif, even closer to the olive groves. It will also showcase freshness, whereas once an olive is picked, it spends a mere few hours in transport before being milled into olive oil. That attention to O’s inherent quality, will better let the citrus shine, the blossoms bloom and the fig taste like they’re right off the tree.

Paul Ryzanych, O Olive Oil & Vinegar’s national sales director, tells me that when sampling, he is always looking to elicit that “O” face, which is what he calls it when someone tastes O vinegars for the first time, and says “oh!” to themselves as if pleasantly surprised. “My best sales pitch is flavor,” says Ryzanych, who finds it best to convince singularly flavored vinegar skeptics with a simple salad dressing, showing that they’re not just stand alone hits, but play well together with olive oil. He mixes O’s ruby and ripe Raspberry Champagne vinegar (which, in essence is like a Kir Royale cocktail in vinaigrette form) with their Meyer Lemon olive oil for a taste of spring, while a more autumnal approach is equal parts Honey White Balsamic vinegar and Roasted Garlic olive oil. This shows that although O’s vinegars became two years after their olive oils, that they’ve been seamlessly integrated into its vision. Though, if you’re looking for vinegar alone, I use their Yuzu Rice vinegar on sushi rice and salads, for a delicate tart accent, like a crystal clear ponzu.

In 2023 Colavita, the large family-owned importer and distributor of Italian foods bought Sonoma, California-based O Olive Oil & Vinegars from parent company Curation Foods. Giovanni Colavita, CEO of Colavita USA, and his cousin Paola Colavita, VP of Colvita’s west coast operations (and now CEO of the O brand) wanted to keep O a family business.

It was important to the Colavitas that they retain the O vinegar methodologies and let the vinegars live. (Or should I say “live”?) They’re never pasteurized, and only gently filtered to prevent a mother from growing inside the bottle. Colativa makes vinegar in Italy too — so there’s a synthesis of these two brands making O even stronger. “We have always looked with admiration at what the O founders created. A company that produces distinctive oils and vinegars, all 100% from California,” Giovanni states. We have been proud to reinstate O as a family-operated business. This purchase brings to life a multi-generational dream!”. And multi-seasonal freshness, in peak vinegars all year round.