LAUNCH PARTY DEBUTS NEW US DAVIS CAMPUS OLIVE OILS AND VINEGAR

University of California, Davis
March 13, 2008

LAUNCH PARTY DEBUTS NEW CAMPUS OLIVE OILS AND VINEGAR

WHAT: UC Davis will unveil its new bottled olive oils, made from the 2007 harvest of the campus's 2,000 olive trees, during a public "launch party." Also making its debut will be a new UC Davis wine vinegar.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 19, 4-6 p.m.

WHERE: The Silo Cafe and Pub, UC Davis

VISUALS: An enthusiastic crowd of folks tasting new olive oils and vinegar, as well as beer, wine and appetizers that showcase the campus's olive oils.

BACKGROUND: The campus's olive trees, which are found in landscape and agricultural plantings, yielded a bumper crop last fall, and those olives have now been pressed and bottled in three blends:
Wolfskill, The Silo and Gunrock.

The new wine vinegar appears under the name "Dinny" in honor of the late Professor A. Dinsmoor "Dinny" Webb. As an active member of the Department of Viticulture and Enology from 1941 to 1982, Webb made vinegar for his colleagues.

(Admission to the launch party is free; wine tasting will cost $8 per person and beer tasting will cost $4. Non-media individuals planning to attend are asked to RSVP at ucdoliveoil@ucdavis.edu. The olive oils and vinegar, offered at discount prices during the launch party, will go on sale at regular prices March 20 at the campus bookstore and online at http://oliveoil.ucdavis.edu

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING: From Interstate 80, take Highway 113 north toward Woodland. Take the first exit at Hutchison Drive. Turn right onto Hutchison and drive east toward the main campus. Continue past two traffic lights at Health Sciences Drive and La Rue Road. Drive past Dairy Road and Bioletti Way on the right. Turn right into Parking Lot 43. To park free, media should place a business card on the driver's side of the dashboard. The Silo Cafe and Pub are directly east of Lot 43, near Hutchison Drive.

Media contact(s):
* Dan Flynn, UC Davis Olive Center, (916) 825-7536, jdflynn@ucdavis.edu
* Pat Bailey, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu