La Nogalera Walnut Oil is the product of the combined efforts of three walnut growers in Santa Barbara County. La Nogalera Walnut Oil derives its name from the Spanish Nogal which means walnut tree. Nogalera is a place where walnut trees are grown. Our ranches have a heritage from the days of the old Spanish Land Grants and our walnut orchards are some of the last remaining walnut orchards in this cool Central Coast area of California. The orchards are located along the Santa Ynez River between Buellton and Lompoc. Hibbits Ranch is located on the west about twelve miles from the Pacific Ocean. La Nogalera is located about fourteen miles upstream and Rancho La Viña is located approximately half-way between.

Click here to see a slideshow of the walnut harvest at Hibbits ranch, courtesy of the Santa Maria Times.

Each ranch utilizes the natural assets of deep fertile soils, cool coastal fog climates, as well as conservative, environmentally sound management practices to produce walnuts of excellent quality and flavor. A blend of the most recently harvested walnuts from these historic ranches results in a premium walnut oil which is probably unmatched worldwide, both in terms of flavor and aroma.It is perhaps not by coincidence, that this same growing area is the renowned Sta. Rita Hills wine appellation, home of Pinot Noir and other fine wines with uniquely intense aromatic flavors likely resulting from similar favorable soil, climate and management factors.

Starting in 2006, Jose Baer, the manager of Rancho La Viña, selected walnuts from each of our ranches based on quality and flavor. The resulting equal parts blend of walnuts results in a tastefully amazing oil.

There are now over one hundred different varieties of walnuts recognized worldwide. Many of the varieties developed recently dominate the walnut market due to their large size, lighter shell color and higher orchard yields. Just as with strawberries, tomatoes and many other agricultural products today, flavor and aroma have taken a back-seat to appearance and size. By contrast, the walnuts used in La Nogalera Walnut Oil come from older heritage varieties such as Concord, Placentia, Payne and Lompoc. The Lompoc variety was developed by Gene Serr, Pomologist at UC Davis on Hibbits Ranch about fifty years ago. The other mentioned varieties in our walnut oil date back nearly 100 years. All are flavor-packed in comparison to many of the newer walnut varieties.

The oil is made in California but in a traditional French manner, roasting the nut before pressing to enhance the flavor. The purity of the process produces a taste just as special as the highest quality of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil.

The oil is delicious used alone for dipping bread. It is wonderful used in salad dressing, drizzled over cooked fish or steak, tossed with pasta and fresh herbs, tossed with steamed vegetables or used when baking cakes or muffins for a rich nutty flavor. Some say it is a wonderful topping to icecream and chocolate cake or brownies! It is an amazingly versatile oil. It should be refrigerated once opened and used within about 6 months. The oil can stay on the shelf, unopened in a cool place for about 10 months but then should be used soon after opening. When used for cooking it is best kept at medium to low temperatures...under 400 degrees Farenheit.

La Nogalera Walnut Oil can be found in Santa Barbara at Lazy Acres Market, C'est Cheese and Pierre La Fond. In other parts of Santa Barbara County it can be found at El Rancho Market and Spencers Fresh Markets. It is found at many tasting rooms including La Fond Winery, Buttonwood Winery and Sissy's Uptown Café. It is available at some gourmet markets and wine tasting rooms from the Santa Ynez Valley region to Lompoc, Orange County and Los Angeles. We sell at the Farmers' Markets in Santa Barbara on Tuesday and Saturday, Santa Monica and Solvang on Wednesday and in Ojai on Sunday.

© La Nogalera