The annual elite competition for Southern Hemisphere olive oils is arranged and presented by Veronafiere. Three years ago Veronafiere which had successfully run the Sol d’Oro olive oil competition for over a decade, decided to split this important competition into two so that the Southern Hemisphere would not be disadvantaged by the differing harvesting periods. The world-wide competition was held in Santiago 2014, Cape Town 2015 and this year, 2016, in Melbourne.
The jury awarded gold, silver and bronze medals in three categories : Delicate Fruity, Medium Fruity and Intense Fruity. Honorable Mentions (17) were also awarded in each of the categories.
The South African award-winners are:
- Bronze Medal (Medium Fruity): Rio Largo Olive Estate, Worcester – Premium Blend
- Special Mention (Delicate Fruity): Morgenster Estate, Somerset West – Morgenster
- Special Mention (Delicate Fruity): Gabriëlskloof, Gabriëlskloof
- Special Mention (Medium Fruity): Willow Creek, Nuy Valley, Director’s Reserve
- Special Mention (Intense Fruity): Rio Largo Olive Estate, Worcester
Oils winning awards at the Sol d’Oro Southern Hemisphere competition will be entitled to affix the “quality stickers” acknowledged internationally on their bottle. Moreover, the oils will be presented, together with the Sol d’Oro Northern Hemisphere awards (December 2017) to international buyers at next year’s Sol&Agrifood exhibition and will be included in the Sol d’Oro Stellar Guide published every year by Veronafiere and distributed to buyers and journalists throughout the world.
Sol d’Oro is a contest that rewards excellence. Yet it also seeks to be an incentive towards improvement in quality through comparison between producers from all countries taking part in the competition. – Veronafiere president
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