True to its name, UC Davis' new Gunrock extra virgin olive oil has “a strong kick down the stretch,” according to the label, which features a drawing of the iconic Gunrock — the real mustang horse from the early days of the campus.

The new Silo extra virgin blend is medium bodied with a mild peppery finish.

These are the two offerings this year from the Olive Center, which has been turning out UC Davis olive oil since 2005 — when the university’s Grounds Division saw profit in the bountiful fruit from the campus’s many olive trees.

The new bottling is due to go on sale at the bookstore in the Memorial Union on July 22 — at a one-day-only discounted price of $10 per 250-milliliter bottle. Then, starting July 23, the price goes up to $12 a bottle.

Proceeds go to the Olive Center for research and education, “cultivating the growth of the California olive industry.”

Due to a record-low campus harvest this year, the Olive Center supplemented its own supply with donations from California Olive Ranch, Oroville; Corto Olive, Stockton; The Olive Press, Sonoma; and Sciabica’s, Modesto.

How it all started: "Creative use of fallow olive grove greases campus coffers" (April 15, 2005)

The Olive Center guarantees its oils as "extra virgin," according to internationally accepted standards. Read about an Olive Center study that found other "extra virgin" claims are not always valid.