De Rustica wins gold medal award for our single cultivar Frantoio!
“A total of 93 extra virgin olive oils (EVOO) were entered into the 2018 competition – a slight increase over last year’s 87 entries. The panel awarded 21 gold, 34 silver and 26 bronze medals, which made 87% of the competing oils medal worthy.
2018 is a year in which South African olive oil producers truly showed their mettle. In adverse drought conditions, which can easily lead to bitterness in oils, the judges on this year’s tasting panel described the competing oils as having ‘a wonderful array of aromas and flavours’. This speaks of the industry’s ability to adapt and innovate under challenging conditions.
According to the 2018 tasting panel leader, Sue Langstaff, “there were excellent oils this year. People have been saying conditions were very difficult, and some oils had minor issues, but generally most of them were in the silver category and then there were some very good gold oils”. Sue went on to say that South African extra virgin olive oils compare very well with old world oils from Italy, Greece and Spain, as well as with other new world oils from Chile, Argentina, Australia, Peru and New Zealand. She considers new world producers to be more willing to experiment with new ideas.
Nick Wilkinson, Chairman of SA Olive, is very confident about the future of the industry when reflecting on the positive comments by acclaimed international judges serving on this year’s tasting panel. He commented “that despite the horrendous drought and challenging growing conditions our growers have once again produced world quality premium oils. Competitions like the SA Olive Awards and the ABSA Top 10 Awards not only shine a light on the skills of SA olive oil producers, they also encourage South
African and international consumers to buy locally produced extra virgin olive oils. The industry has shown itself to be forward thinking and innovative in all aspects of production. If Government triggers their development plan, which recognises the upside this industry has in job creation and import substitution, we could play a positive role in addressing the very real problems facing our country.” ”
See all winners here: https://www.saolive.co.za/2018/08/24/saoliveawards2018/