a guide to the best certified quality olive oil in the word


The Top 15

It would not make sense to write a Guide without a listing of merits and awards. But it must immediately be explained that from its debut our editorial product has always distinguished itself in this regard. In fact each entry in the Guide is rigorously subject to the recognition of "high organoleptic values" acknowledged by our Panel of expert tasters. Many question us about the selection criteria of this classification, also in connection with the delay (for the Mediterranean world) and the precocity (for the rest of the world) of the editorial release. Our selection method does not take into account only the organoleptic quality of the extravirgin olive oils presented at the tasting, but also their constant quality throughout the years, and above all the significance of the individual farm in the territory where it produces. For the novice, it should be underlined that, although the extravirgin olive oil is a product of great excellence, it suffers from a rapid fall of its organoleptic qualities after about a year "of life". A product like wine instead, if preserved in the right way, continues to have an organoleptic escalation. Thus it would be inappropriate to tie each Guide entry to the individual extravirgin olive oil presented annually. Moreover, a listing of excellence, the Top 15, is included. This "Quality Award“ is assigned to a group of farms that in the fifteen categories described below have excelled in the optimization of the productive sector. Finally, every year we assign a "Special Award" to people, authorities or trading associations that have distinguished themselves for their commitment in promoting and spreading the olive oil culture.

Award	FARM	Country
The Olive Oil Mill of the Year	Morgenster Estate Agricola Valle Grande Limitada	ZA RCH
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil of the Year	Almazaras de la Subbética	E
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil from Organic Farming	farm Fontodi	I
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil Relation Quality/Price	Vesuvio Estate	ZA
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Monovariety	Farm Cetrone	I
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Blended	La Fabresse	F
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Light Fruity	The Waiheke Olive Oil	NZ
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Medium Fruity	Farm Comincioli	I
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Intense Fruity	Stancija Meneghetti	HR
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil Pdo - Light Fruity	Farm  Chiarieri	I
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil Pdo - Medium Fruity	Marqués de Griñon Family	E
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil Pdo - Intense Fruity	Manuel Montes Marín	E
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Continuous Cycle System	Cooperative Society La Torretta	I
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Sinolea Method	Farm Viola	I
The Best Extravirgin Olive Oil - Traditional Press System	Clemente Menéres	P
Special Award	Consejo Regulador  Denominación de Origen Priego de Córdoba	E

How to Read the Guide

In the pages dedicated to the extravirgin olive oil producers 
the following abbreviations have been used:

	Height of olive groves expressed in metres above the sea level (m. - a.s.l.)
	Orchard layout and training system of olive trees
	Percentage of the different types of olive cultivars present in the selected extravirgin olive oil
	Harvesting method
	Presence of olive oil mill owned by the farm
	Technological system used to extract the extravirgin olive oil
	Extravirgin olive oil tasting category
	Price range in relation to bottle size. The prices refer to the average quotations of distribution in the country of production. In case of export, the mentioned extravirgin olive oil could be in a higher price range
	Quality Award awarded by the Editor for the best productions of extravirgin olive oil