California White Sturgeon Caviar

Tsar Nicoulai was founded in Northern California in 1984 and enjoys a multi-decade partnership with the agriculture department at UC Davis, which allows them to remain at the helm of sustainable caviar farming, and to create the highest quality products. 

Sustainability is woven into every inch of their farm:

• Based in Northern CA, Tsar Nicoulai Caviar has been farming CA White Sturgeon in their native environment since 1984. As the only ECO-CERT certified sturgeon farm in the country, great care is taken to not only produce caviar of the highest quality, but also to do so in a way that is mindful of the impact on our planet.
• Tsar Nicoulai is the only ECOCERT eco-certified sturgeon farm in the United States. They are also currently the only U.S. sturgeon farm with an on-site smokehouse and hatchery.
• White Sturgeon are native to the Sacramento River Delta, so it only makes sense to raise them under the California sunshine in Wilton, just twenty minutes Southeast of Sacramento. The sturgeon are fed an ultra-premium NLAP non-GMO fish feed, are never given growth hormones, and do not receive antibiotics
• Tsar Nicoulai’s system utilizes ⅓ of the energy of a typical RAS system.
• Solar power offsets energy usage
• Orchards of lemon, fig, and orange trees surround the property-Ducks, geese, and swans flock to the happy environment around the outdoor aquaponic system, and return year after year to lay their eggs and raise their babies
• The entire fish is used post-harvest with the vast majority of the harvested sturgeon being smoked onsite. Think: smoked sturgeon, paté, and even sturgeon chicharones!

Pair it with chips and crème fraîche, make a decadent grilled cheese, or enjoy it on its own with our Fishwife mother of pearl spoon.

• Store caviar at a consistent temperature between 28°–34° F. The ideal place to store it is in the coldest part of your refrigerator, like the back bottom drawer. You can also keep it on ice.
• When left unopened and properly refrigerated, your caviar is best by 60 days from the ship date with up to a 60 day shelf life.