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www.gourmetnews.com Gourmet News • Oli e Aceti 9 Salute Sante! Grapeseed Oil Offers Nutritional and Culinary Benefits BY LORRIE BAUMANN Valentin Humer, the co-Founder and co- Owner of Food & Vine along with his wife Nanette, has come up with a way to cold press the seeds left over after wine grapes have been crushed to produce an oil high in linoleic acid, an Omega 6 fatty acid that's been shown to elevate high density lipoprotein cholesterol, the good cholesterol, and to decrease triglycerides and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, the bad cholesterol. The oil, Food & Vine's Salute Sante! Grapeseed Oil, is also certified green and verified non-GMO, and it has other valuable culinary characteristics – mild flavors that don't compete with other foods and a high smoke point for sauteing, searing and even frying. Salute Sante! Grape- seed Oil has almost 10 times more linoleic acid than olive oil, according to Valentin Humer. "It's the only food that can effectively raise HDL cholesterol without a change in diet or lifestyle," he said. "It lowers LDL and triglycerides." "This is a fruit oil. It's not a vegetable oil," adds Nanette. "It has its own amaz- ing health benefits, with al- most half the saturated fat of olive oil." Valentin Humer, an Aus- trian-trained chef and hote- lier, came to the U.S. in 1988 with the intention of bringing to the American market the grapeseed oil that he and other European chefs already loved. "I put my career on the hook because I was so excited about this product," he said. "I wanted to make it here in California and wanted to make it cold-pressed.... It took us 15 years to create a press that was strong enough to cold-press the grapeseed oil, which we have now running 24/7 in Napa. Grape seeds are hard as a rock." Food & Vine has been pressing Cali- fornia grape seeds for Salute Sante! Extra Virgin Cold Press Grapeseed Oil since 2010. Before that, the company had been importing grapeseed oil from the key wine-producing countries in Eu- rope since 1994 and selling it on the American market, where it was enthusi- astically embraced by classically trained chefs, who valued it for its flavors, its 485-degree smoke point that allows high-temperature applications and the emulsifying power that means that it in- corporates easily into salad dressings that can be stored in the refrigerator and then used directly from cold storage be- cause the oil doesn't begin to solidify at normal refrigerator temperatures. "Grapeseed oil makes dressings that don't congeal in the refrigerator. It stays nice and creamy," Valentin said. All of the Salute Sante! oils are 100 percent grapeseed oil rather than a blend of oils, which guarantees that the Salute Sante! oils have the linoleic acid content that's a key to their health benefits. "We have third-party certification to show that what comes out of the grape seed is what's in the can," Nanette said. "I need to be able to sleep," Valentin added. "My quality level is always the best, and the oil is pure." While he developed the American market for his imported Salute Sante! grapeseed oil in the years since 1994, Humer kept working on the designs for his presses until he developed a new press that could press the oil from very hard grape seeds. By 2010, he'd finally cracked that seed in time to introduce Salute Sante! Extra Virgin Cold Press Grapeseed Oil, made in Napa, Califor- nia, in 2011. The oils are made from the seeds that are left over after wine grapes are crushed. "We don't use new land or new water to get our products, so we're not contributing to waste," Nanette said. "Why ship this stuff all over the world when we can make it here with zero car- bon footprint?" Several varieties of wine grapes are grown in the Napa Valley region, so that, in addition to the Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Grapeseed Oil, the Salute Sante! product range now also includes many ultra-premium oils made from specific grape varietals: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Riesling, Zin- fandel, Viognier, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Fine restaurant chefs have adopted these varietal oils for use as finishing oils in dishes that pair well with the wines fermented from the same variety of grapes. They can be driz- zled on seafood, salads or cheeses or used as dipping oils for bread or crack- ers. "It takes the marriage of food and wine to a whole new level," Valentin said. "Grapeseed oil is much more ver- satile than olive oil. As a professional chef, I think of them like salt and pep- per. Grapeseed oil can be used for any cuisine, while olive oil is more suitable for Mediterranean cuisine." The Salute Sante! product range also includes five flavor-infused finishing oils: Roasted Garlic, Lemon, Basil, Chili and Rosemary. They find use in salad dressings, for drizzling over cooked meats and vegetables and for marinating. The Humers be- lieve that Ameri- cans' growing interest in grape- seed oil and the success of their own product line can be attributed to growing sophistica- tion among American consumers who care about their health and the food they're putting into their bodies. "Con- sumers are getting more and more leery about what's in their food. Baby Boomers and Generation X are doing their homework, and they want to know that the people behind these brands have integrity," Valentin said. "It's nec- essary to look for something that's pure, and we're third-party-certified 100 per- cent pure. Sometimes price isn't every- thing. What they're getting with Salute Sante! is pure good stuff – not adulter- ated with something else." GN "This is a fruit oil. It's not a vegetable oil. It has its own amazing health benefits, with almost half the saturated fat of olive oil." — Nanette Humer

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