An Extra Virgin Olive Oil Love Story

Skyler and Giuseppe met in Rome by chance. She was studying abroad in Barcelona and visiting for the weekend. He was supposed to be studying for an exam, but a friend insisted he venture out for a drink. “It was like lightning for me,” he said. “I was like, “Oh my god! There she is!” when he saw Skyler for the first time in the Largo di Torre Argentina neighborhood. Before they parted ways, Giuseppe made a proposal. He would visit Skyler in Barcelona, if she promised to return to Rome one more time and drive to his hometown in Calabria to meet his mother. Skyler had only known Giuseppe a matter of days. “So, I asked my friend, “Am I crazy? And she was like “It’s Europe! It’s fine!” said Skyler. She booked a flight to Rome.

She remembers driving along the mountainous “spine” of the Apennines, down to the tip of Italy’s boot, past ravines, tunnels and bridges. When they arrived in Le Castella, seven hours later, it was night. She recalls the smell of the sea, the glare of moonlight and the taste of Giuseppe’s mother's food. Skyler was greeted with 12 different dishes, fried seafood plates and eggplant parmigiana that “tasted like it was supposed to.” On the second day, Giuseppe asked her if she wanted to see the olive trees his father and grandfather planted on a sun-drenched cliff above the Ionian Sea. She had to say yes.

Skyler extended her stay. Giuseppe’s mother, who “never lies,” diagnosed her son with a new condition - he was in love. On that trip, Skyler learned one of the most important lessons about Calabria: You cry not two but three times in the South: when you arrive, when you leave and when you get home.

But olives weren’t yet on her mind.

Skyler and Giuseppe decided to marry and move to the Bay Area, where she worked as an architect and he as a nutritionist. For two years, Giuseppe dreamed of starting their own olive oil company. “She took a while,” he said. “He was confident all along,” she said. Before leaving architecture for good, Skyler asked a friend if she could work at a winery during harvest. She doubted whether she could produce delicious olive oil without deep roots, but she had spent her childhood visiting wineries in Northern California, and they were places that felt familiar. Olive oil she realized was not food, but a liquid, like wine. Witnessing how a great bottle was made on a commercial scale would be a good test. “It was the perfect segue and introduction to make olive oil confidently and to understand the next steps we had to take,” she said.

In 2017, Skyler and Giuseppe took a plunge and moved to Calabria to master the craft. In the wee hours of the morning, Giuseppe thought of the company name, “EXAU,” (pronounced “ex ow”) after the Latin phrase, Ex Albis Ulivis, a reference to the young olives so green and good they were reserved for the nobility. “We were psycho,” says Skyler, looking back on how obsessively they tackled the project. Their constant research, persistence and follow-up brought out an intensity. In a matter of months, they figured out how to harvest, bottle, label, export and import. EXAU olive oils are harvested and bottled in Calabria in October and November, then imported to the US. “When it comes to making a product or designing something, I pay a lot of attention to detail,” said Skyler. “And Giuseppe cannot give something to a person without it being right.”

They sought out a master, Antonio Lauro, one of the foremost experts and assessors of Calabrian olive oil, to try their batch. He gave them his blessing. In 2019, they won the Silver Award at the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition. Now living in Austin, Texas, for most of the year, the couple has even bigger plans for Calabrian olive oil. “We need to share our love for Calabria for what it is and not what it isn't,” said Skyler. “We want to build the beautiful reputation and face of Calabria and help other small businesses do that as well.”

Today, they sell three types of extra virgin: Turi, Avus and Lina, named in honor of Giuseppe’s family members. (They say the peppery flavor of “Lina” matches his mother’s fiery spirit.) EXAU olive oil is made with cultivars (olives) from Southern Italy, (with the exception of just one: Leccino.) They are most proud of the Carolea, which is an olive distinctive to their area and region.

This fall, a new olive oil for cooking and baking will be sold in three-liter tins for those who like to wield olive oil generously. Next year, they plan on arranging private tours in Calabria, for travelers eager to immerse themselves in olive oil tastings, seafood and a bit of viticulture on the estates surrounding Ciro, a small city just 45 minutes away.

“I’m not sure if it’s because I'm from there, but I feel like my heart opens when I get there,” said Giuseppe. “There is a saying in Italy that you can remove a Calabrian from his town, but you can never remove Calabria from the heart of a person.”