Kiler Ridge Olive Oil

I literally had no clue what olive oil SHOULD taste like until coming here this past weekend.
To start, we waiting about 10 mins before someone was able to help us. When we showed up there were only 2 ladies serving the tastings. (So we took some time to wonder the property and take in the beautiful views.) It seems they like to keep one employee to each party. Which is great because it allowed us to ask tons of questions and learn SO MUCH about olives, production, yield, flavors, etc.
You start the tasting off smelling Bertolli and work you way through about 5 oils from their production. (I imagine this may change year to year depending on production yields?) Then you finish tasting the Bertolli. At this time, with the other tastings and information you learn, you understand how impossible it will be to buy EVOO from the grocery store ever again! But luckily they don’t have you leaving with a bad taste in your mouth, so they really finish the tasting with Breyer’s vanilla ice cream, Himalayan pink salt and a drizzle of your favorite EVOO. Sounds bizarre, but it’s pretty incredible. (Also an interesting note that you taste all the oils straight. I’m not sure why, but I was under the impression we would be dipping bread or something. When you drink it straight, you are able to get all the flavors of the oil on all the flavor palettes of your tongue.)
$ 5 tasting, waived with any purchase or free with a Unilocal check-​in. Dog friendly (although they have a dog on their property Marcus, but he is a giant sweetheart.)
If you are in the area and have time… or need to sober up for 30−45mins, swing by Kiler. You’ll never look at EVOO the same!

We had a great, informative experience learning about olive oil from Greg the owner. In fact it was one of the many highlights from our trip! We actually couldn’t stop talking about how much we learned on our ride home. Really!
(But maybe we’re just geeks)
Upon arrival, the sweeping and majestic views of olive orchards and vineyards in the distance greeted us and reminded us immediately of Tuscany. I got out of the car to see my guy petting an amazingly docile mutt named Marcus. He was so sweet!
The olive oil tasting is free with either Unilocal check-​in or purchase of oil. We spent nearly a $ 100 on oil after learning that we’re being sold nearly rancid oil bottled after sitting in vats from supermarkets and big-​box stores in America. Yikes! At least we learned how to tell quality oil from the average stuff so we won’t be duped anymore. Another thing we learned is just how bad it is to allow olive oil to smoke in your pan– you might as well just use lard since smoked oil is gonna clog up your arteries! Double yikes!
Taking one star off as Greg’s wife could learn to show guests some warm hospitality. She couldn’t be more cold or disinterested when we arrived for a tasting. Good thing Greg and Marcus made up for that!

Wonderful tasting experience! He was very knowledgable and informative, explained things very very well. And super kid friendly!

Beautiful views and a very attentive tasting. Olive oil tasting is $ 5 but if you check in on Unilocal,tasting is free.
VERY INFORMATIVE — see olive oil in completely new light! My normal TJ olive oil brands now totally taste rancid! haha.
Not a dessert person at all but the vanilla ice cream with olive oil and Himalayan pink salt was pretty amazing!

Excellent tour of the orchard and informative tasting of olive oil. Low on showmanship but high in substance. Come here if you are serious to learn about olive oil. The Robert Mondavi of olive oil?

No kidding — Woohoo! As good as it gets! We started out as a Zin Fest weekend and found ourselves here tasting wonderful olive oil! You must come here What an education and beautiful — now I’ll be coming here to pick up some great olive oil as well as wine!
Oh. We did make it to our favorite winemakers festival

What started out as a olive oil tasting, turned into a fun afternoon of education on every aspect of olive oil. It was fascinating. Greg is fantastic and loves to share his wealth of knowledge. We spent over 4 hours at Kiler Ridge and loved every minute. The view is worth the drive and it’s so close to town. The vanilla ice cream with olive oil and pink sea salt is a wonderful treat at the end. Check it all out!

Wow this olive oil is exceptional! My fiancée and I took a jeep wine tour with Sal and he brought us here for an olive oil tasting. This place is gorgeous on top of a hill over looking the beautiful paso mountains and the olive oil is so delicious. They give you bertolli olive oil the cheap crap from Safeway so you can compare the difference in taste. Holy smokes I never bought that before and never will but it’s a good comparison to show people the good stuff versus the bad stuff.
Go here for olive oil — amazing view an amazing olive oil!

Amazing. What a fantastic experience on our visit. First off — the olive oil is spectacular. Incredibly good — great flavor full of personality. I live for olive oil and make my husband stop everywhere we go — Sonoma, Ojai, etc. This is probably the best we’ve tasted. The experience was also fantastic. The location is beautiful — among the rolling hills — it was like being at a winery but with olive oil. A friendly dog came up and greeted us and then we met the owners son, Devon. He was extremely educational during our tasting. I learned more here than all of my past trips elsewhere put together. You understand the science and why flavors (like the yummy pepper finish) matter — for your health (antioxidant) and as evidence of it’s freshness. He educated mass produced olive oil to an independent operation such as this… and from a health benefit as well as flavor I don’t think I can go back to the olive oil from Ralph’s! This was an easy stop as it’s close to some of the best wineries in the region.

What a great way to end our Paso thanksgiving road trip 2015. We were the first to arrive this morning and the gate parted open for us. We parked our car overlooking the Tuscan-​esque beautiful scenery below. Devon, the son of the owners, greeted us and set us up with a tasting. These are very hands on tastings where you learn everything you need to about real olive oil. After you taste the four oils they currently have, then comes the best part: vanilla ice cream with sea salt and olive oil. Yes please, I will have 10 more, keep me coming! We left with two bottles and full intentions of joining the olive oil club once these two bottles run out. Thanks for the hospitality Devon, Marcus (the dog), and everyone at Kiler Ridge olive oil.

Nice variety and impeccable quality. Also very informative in an entertaining way.
Cute dog

Great host. Excellent teachings! I had no idea until this tour about olive oils. I will not be conned anymore about buying items in store that just state «extra Virgin olive oil».
What a great experience!

Great olive oil! late harvest 2013. via mail order. thanks!
We stopped in ¹⁄₂₄ and got a real education on olive oil and how it is made. The tasting and your folks were great. Beautiful views and amazing operation. Highly recommend.
Dave

What can you say? Worth the drive up there just for the view. The olive oil was excellent (we bought a bunch!) and the education was very well done and quite interesting.
Last time we were in Paso a year ago, they were serving small lunch plates that were absolutely FANTASTIC. We heard they ran into a snag and can’t serve food any more which is a real shame.
We will return on our next trip again. Love Kiler Ridge.

Beauty all around! First off the place is hidden up on a hilltop with thee most amazing view of the west side of Templeton/​Paso you will find that is open to the public. Second the olive oil lesson is very educational and the oil is amazing… The oils they produce are outstanding and very flavorful without that tangy punch some olive oils have… I have gone through two bottles in two months. I am hooked!!!
The owners and staff are very friendly. The grounds are clean, easy to navigate for a wheel chair if needed… The whole farm is so creative and well done. I love the building and the fact that they produce no waste and recycle everything. We need more places like this in Paso. I really love going here.
We bring our lunch and get away from everything when we go here. The location is literally 4 minutes out of town and easy to find. The price of the oils is decent and the oil is so so delicious.
I will never go bk to the old store «fake» oils. I am so glad I stumbled upon this gem. If you are in Paso you have to go check this place out. Take a break from wine tasting and stop here to get your picture amongst the olive orchard and the west side of templeton vineyards and your bottle of oil.
You will be writing a review as well… I guarantee it.

Just had the most amazing experience at Kiler Ridge Olive Farm today! We attended the Olive Oil Production tour with owner, Greg and it was the most interesting and informative tour I have ever attended. I came away with tons of new information about and respect for olive oil and their manufacturers. Greg has a wealth of knowledge and is a wonderful presenter keeping our group completely focused for the quickest 90 minutes ever! After the tour we enjoyed an also thoroughly well informed olive oil tasting. I highly recommend this for one of your Paso activities. And did I forget to mention the incredible views from their location?!! A must do for locals and your visitors.

This was a great place to stop and learn about the olive oil process. The location was beautiful, views were fantastic, and the olive oil is delicious! You can really taste a different between Kiler Ridge and store bought (we threw out our store bought when we got home)!
There are only two things that we wish were different: 1. We wanted the olive oil to be paired with a small piece of bread or something a bit more substantial (We got a bit nauseated sipping on straight olive oil.) 2. The tour was a little lengthy and felt too scientific (However we loved the information on store bought olive oil, lack of regulations, etc).
Overall, Kiler Ridge is a great place to get some delicious olive oil and take in the breathtaking views!

Best place ever!!! How is it possible that everyone in Paso Robles isn’t telling the world about this spot?
Yummy…yummy food, excellent olive oil and fabulous menu. We sat outside (i’ll post photos) and had the most delicious food (kale chips so light and perfect they almost blew away). Food paired perfectly with their delicious olive oil and a view that makes you feel you’ve been transported to Tuscany (yes we’ve been there).
They don’t have a license to sell wine but we had some in our car from a wine club pick up (so bring your own). We asked if we could bring it to our table and they graciously brought us beautiful wine glasses and a opener (license issues), they didn’t charge a corkage fee so it made our lunch economical and paired great with the food. There was only one other couple eating when we were there so we essentially had a private chef cooking gourmet bites for us at this beautiful location.
This is a MUST visit spot. Even the owner stopped by our table and said hello, he explained how he grows the olives and how he chose the spot. It was a super wonderful experience. Take someone special and enjoy one of the best kept secrets of Paso (but share the secret, we want them to be around forever).
We didn’t plan enough time for a full olive oil tasting but plan to go back again for both the food and oil tasting.

This was our last stop in our whirlwind Paso Robles trip this past week. My husband and I were on our way to Ecluse Winery when we happened to see Kiler Olive Oil /​Ridge on our left… so we thought, why not stop in for an olive oil tasting later?
We arrived and parked our car (plenty of parking in this off-​season), and entered the olive oil tasting room. If you check-​in to Unilocal,you get 1 free olive oil tasting! We did exactly that and got to learn more about what «extra virgin olive oil» means and how to tell the difference between grocery story olive oil + the «real deal» extra virgin olive oil. THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE!
Too bad our federal government also does not regulate the use of the words «extra virgin» on olive oil labels and brands, so un-​informed consumers will never know that they are being lied to! It’s all a marketing ploy, according to this olive oil farm!
So, we learned that true extra virgin olive oil will have a peppery spicy kick to the oil after you taste it!
Kiler Ridge also offers artisan lunches to customers, by appointment only. Their menu is small but the lunch and food is intended to be paired with the olive oil tasting! Since we had NO idea they offered this option, we didn’t stay for the lunch. They told us that the entire «lunch w/​olive oil pairings» is an «experience» that can take 45 min to 1.5 hours. People come to relax, enjoy good food, and experience the «Tuscan» country-​side (a replica, of course), with all the rolling vineyards around it. The views from Kiler Ridge are amazing, and I must say it was one of the better views out of all the wineries we visited on Sunday.
After our olive oil tasting, we walked away with a $ 11 purchase of a 100 ml bottle of Tuscan extra virgin olive oil to take home! :) A fun stop along our Paso Robles wine country trip!

Not only do you get to taste great olive oil, you also get a quick chemistry lesson as to why olive oil is so good for you.
Who knew most store bought olive oil in the US is pretty poor quality? Well we kind of knew and that is why we were so interested in tasting at Kiler Ridge. I’m not going to spoil the whole tasting experience for you, but lets just say the best way to compare things is having them side by side. You should go and see for yourself.
The grounds at Kiler Ridge are also amazing — what a view! Make sure to call ahead for an appointment. The tasting is free if you check in on Unilocal or you buy some olive oil, we did both. Also, they serve lunch. We will have to try that next time.