The Perfect Gift.

Last week, I was out running post-work errands.  One item on my to-do list was to pick up a birthday gift for a girlfriend.  Knowing that she is a lover of fine foods and a supporter of local businesses, I popped in to one of Charlotte's newest neighborhood shops that I knew would make her happy on both accounts.

Pour Olive, located in Dilworth, is one of the cutest shops I've been in recently.

The long and narrow space is the perfect layout for their olive oil and vinegar tasting stations. 



Just about any flavor that you can think of -- they've got it covered.

There are more than 40 different types of olive oils and vinegars in this sweet shop -- can you even imagine? 

Oils completely line the left side of the store... 

... while the vinegars flank the opposite side.

And yes, that is dark chocolate balsamic vinegar that you see, and let me tell you that it is divine when paired with orange olive oil!

The sweet and bubbly owner, Sophie, encourages you to taste as many samples as you'd like.  She helped me to pair together a few selections that I wouldn't have thought to combine.

Do you spy my large stack of tasting cups in the below photo?  And that wasn't even the half of them.

Under the oils and vinegars are dark bottles in three different sizes.  All you have to do is decide which one you want, and they'll fill and seal the bottles right there for you.

If you're having a hard time narrowing down your choice, handwritten chalk descriptions help guide you in the right direction.  Similar to a great wine list, they list helpful information such as the origin, the notes you'll taste, and serving ideas.  So smart.

The bottles are priced well ... well enough to leave with five bottles when you only entered the store for one!  (ahem.)

In addition, Pour Olive offers other items for purchase, with an emphasis on North Carolina made products.

I left with a large bag full of goodies, all wrapped up safely and finished off with a raffia bow.

We did give three of the bottles away as gifts, but saved two for ourselves!  The black mission fig balsamic vinegar was my top choice for our home, and I asked Sophie for her recommendation on an accompanying oil.  She pointed me in the direction of the garlic infused olive oil, and she was right on the money.

As Ian and I sat outside on Friday evening and dipped our foccacia slices in our new black mission fig balsamic vinegar and garlic olive oil, we couldn't imagine a better way to ring in the weekend!

Pour Olive is located at 1528 East Boulevard in Charlotte, NC.