Spanish extra virgin olive oils
received a total of 51 awards including two best of class at the New
York International Olive Oil Competition.
Over 700 entries from 22 countries
were subjected to a blind taste test to select the world’s
best olive oils for 2013 at last week’s competition, which was held at the
International Culinary Center in New York. Spain finished second only to Italy,
the country with the most entries in the competition.
Spain, with its haul of two best of
class and 25 gold earned a total of 51 awards for the event. Spanish EVOO
companies Masia el Altet, located in the Alcoy Mountains of Alicante, and
Andalusian producer Finca La Torre both took home best of class awards for
their respective categories, North Medium Intensity Blend and North Medium
Intensity Monovarietal. Both oils received scores of 9.50 of a possible 10.0.
Another big winner for the year was
Aceites Melgarejo, who received two gold awards, with a score of 8.60 in the
Robust Monovarietal category with its Arbequina, and 8.20 for their Picual. The
company was founded in 1995, but strives to continue a rich history of olive
farming that has been carried out by the family for generations. Located in
Jaén, one of the regions most known for olive oil production in the world,
olive oils from Melgarejo have received no less than 22 prizes this year alone.
Other top Spanish scorers included
Venta del Barón from Córdoba and Aciete Novecientos from the province of Jaén,
which both scored an impressive 9.50 in their categories. Popular Spanish
export, Chef José Andrés, also received a gold award for the olive oil to which
he lends his name, José Andrés by Casas de Hualdo Secret Blend, which scored a
9.0 in the Robust Blend category.
The winning olive oils from Spain
are below. The full list of winners can be found at the Best
Olive Oils website.
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