Award Winning
Extra Virgin Olive Oils
Arbequina-Mission Reserve
California Mission
2024
2023
2022
100% Arbequina
100% Arbequina
Arbequina-Mission Reserve
California Mission
Arbequina-Mission Reserve
Arbequina-Mission Reserve
Welcome to Basque Away
Our family owned olive ranch in Creston, just outside Paso Robles, California, in San Luis Obispo County has ideal warm days and cool nights. Our 655 Arbequina, Mission and Picholine olive trees thrive in this Mediterranean climate. Each olive is hand picked and locally cold pressed within hours of coming off the trees. We are unabashedly proud of our oils, certified as "the finest quality extra virgin olive oil" and awarded THREE GOLD MEDALS and TWO BEST IN CLASS in 2024 by the prestigious California Olive Oil Council. And each of our EVOO's medaled at the California Mid-State Fair in 2024. Basque Away is on a roll as we also won two GOLDs in 2023 and a SILVER in 2022. It just keeps getting better.
Our EVOO
(EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL)
California Mission
Described by the COOC as "balanced, green and grassy", our GOLD MEDAL winning California Mission is our most ROBUST with a classic EVOO bite and peppery finish from its very high and healthful polyphenol count of 707. You might also pick up a front note of artichoke.
100% Arbequina
Described by the COOC as "balanced with notes of green apples and herbaceous", our 100% Arbequina won not only a GOLD MEDAL but also BEST IN CLASS SPANISH SINGLE VARIETAL. This beautiful Spanish olive produces an elegant oil with the classic EVOO bite and peppery finish from its high and healthful polyphenol count of 492.
Arbequina-Mission Reserve
Described by the COOC as "balanced and robust with green fruit notes" (and I also pick up a creamy cashew note), our Arbequina-Mission Reserve blends our Arbequina and Mission with a French kiss of Picholine olives. No wonder it won both a GOLD MEDAL and BEST IN CLASS for OTHER BLENDS. Once again, it has the classic EVOO bite and peppery finish from its very high polyphenol count of 632.
Lemon Infused
We infuse our award winning 100% Arbequina EVOO with lemon extract oil for a citrus hint ideal with seafood, salad dressing, vegetables or anything else where you want a lemon twist. We love it on sweet potatoes. (No infused oil can (or should) be certified as extra virgin olive oil as it is no longer 100% olive oil).
Olio Nuovo
For this first time, Basque Away will offer Olio Nuovo bottled no later than 2 weeks following this year's harvest. Because it will not be racked, it will be an opaque, beautiful green, with "texture" from the sediment which has not yet settled. It is expected to have a strong green fruit aroma and high polyphenols and pungency with notes of fresh grass, black pepper and fresh garden herbs. Pre-orders only. Two weeks following harvest expected around the first week of November, it will no longer be available or it wouldn't be "nuovo"!
Why Basque? Why Olives?
So when Cynthia retired from being a lawyer in the San Francisco Bay Area for 40 years, it seemed like the perfect fit for a “recovering lawyer”. Basque Away LLC was formed in 2018 and named in honor of Guy’s mother and her proud Basque heritage.
Guy’s mother was born to Basque parents who immigrated from Vizcaya and Navarre to Nevada where they had a sheep ranch. After Guy’s mother had raised nine children, she and her husband moved to Sonoma California where she thrived in her garden growing fruits and her beloved peonies.
One of Cynthia’s fondest childhood memories was sitting with her Cuban father overlooking El Generalife gardens and Alhambra in Spain eating tapas, including olives of course, while sipping fino sherry (but the latter was a secret from her mother!)
Basque Away has been a proud member of the California Olive Oil Council since 2018 and recipient of awards since first entering EVOO competition in 2022. Cynthia went back to school and received her Master Milling certificate from the University of California, Davis Olive Center in 2022, and in 2024 became a member of the California Olive Oil Council's Board of Directors.
Our Farm
That's our family hand harvesting. Farm visits and free olive oil tastings welcome by appointment. So when you need a break from all the Paso Robles great wine tasting, make an appointment and bring your friends for free olive oil tastings on our patio, overlooking the olive orchard. At the farm, we offer additional sized bottles in addition to the 375 ml and 750 ml which we ship. At the farm, you can also purchase 250 ml, 266 ml, and 300 ml sizes. Just email Cynthia at Cynthia@basqueaway.com to make a farm visit appointment or for direct orders.
We Care about our Community
Philanthropy
Basque Away donated gallons of its award winning EVOO's to The Terrace Foundation in Santa Barbara in 2024 so seniors and disabled persons could have the healthful benefits of true extra virgin olive oils. We also donated 10% of our sales during the Wine 4 Paws Event to support sheltered dogs and cats at the Woods Humane Society. We also donated EVOO to the Pet Project Foundation for their fund raising auction as we also do at many of the Basque festivals to support their cultural activities including promotion of youth Basque dancing. .
Events
We are honored to have already participated in so many events in 2024: The Fresno Basque Festival, the Paso Robles Annual Olive and Lavender Festival, the Los Banos Basque Picnic, the Bakersfield NABO Basque Festival, the San Francisco Basque Festival, the Winnemucca Basque Festival, the Southern California Basque Festival, the Chino Basque Festival, and two festivals in Nevada (Winnemucca and Reno)..
October 12: 20th Annual Rocklin Basque Festival, McBean Hall, 65 McBean Park Dr., Lincoln Cal. No tickets or reservations required. Just come with joy and a desire to join in (and taste for free our oils.) The holidays will be here soon! Free Thanksgiving, Christmas and non-denominational holiday gift wrapping of our 375 ml and 750 ml bottles.
October 19: Tooth and Nail Winery, 3090 Anderson Road, Paso Robles, noon to 5:00. Wine and Live music at the castle while you taste and shop. Free Thanksgiving, Christmas, and non-denominational holiday gift wrapping of our 375 ml and 750 ml bottles.
Basco Centro, 13432 Central Ave. Chino, Cal. Basco Centro carries our oils in its restaurant. Dine and pick up a bottle or two.
,
Sign onto our newsletter for the latest on festivals and events, recipes, special discount notices and food for thought.
Join the Club
Join our email list and get our suggested and seasonal EVOO recipes, see our holiday gift baskets and bottles, and learn more about olives, extra virgin olive oils, and the Basque Festivals we will be joyfully attending.