Olive Sonoma

I love olives and I love Sonoma! Welcome to olive season here in Sonoma! I know, I know, any reason to have a celebration right? Absolutely!

We attended the blessing of the olives last weekend at Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma and learned more about olives than we thought there was to know! Olives are Sonoma County’s second largest crop with grapes of course being the largest crop. We have been to downtown Sonoma many times but had never gone in to the Mission. The colorful murals, exposed wood beams and architecture were wonderful to look at while we waited for all the guests to pile into this cute space. I have a thing for churches even though you don’t often find me inside them. The architecture, the time and love that went into building them and the symbolism for the people worshiping in them make them beautiful to me. Especially the simple ones.

The hubs and I sat back listening to a fabulous trio of guitar players, people whose lives revolve around olives speak so enthusiastically about their part in the process, and of course the cutest priest I have ever heard Father Kelly. He was cracking jokes about olives in martinis and explaining the history of olives. Father Kelly had the big job of blessing the olives and this season. He did it wonderfully!

After the blessings were done, olive branches handed out and olives tasted the hubs and I grabbed a snack before heading off to the Olive Press at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. Yes, those Jacuzzi’s. The inventors of what we call a Jacuzzi. They have a beautiful winery that now also has an olive press at it’s location which also happens to be across the road from where the original Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma was located. We got a history lesson, olives, olive oil, tour of an olive press and a taste of wine. Did I mention I love Sonoma?

We were so involved in everything we were learning I almost forgot to take pictures! Check out some below.

Happy olive season!