The 13^th edition of Sol d’Oro Northern Hemisphere, the most important  international olive oil competition organized by Veronafiere, saw the small town of Buccheri, in the province of Siracusa, Sicily, become the world capital of quality extra virgin olive oil with 3 Sol d’Oro victories in 5 categories. Despite the difficult production year in Italy, Italian growers confirmed their status as the best in the world by taking 14 out of 15 medals award. A medal and 19 Special Mentions for Spain, and one special mention each for Portugal and Croatia. All the winners at http://www.solagrifood.com.

 

 A truly out-of-the-ordinary event: Buccheri, a town of just over 2,000 inhabitants in the Province of Siracusa, Sicily, has become the world capital of quality olive oil. Three olive producers in the Siracusa area – Azienda Agricola La Tonda, Terraliva and Agrestis – in fact came out on top of the 13^thedition of Sol d’Oro Northern Hemisphere, respectively in the Medium Fruity, Fruity and Single Variety categories, as well as taking two Special Mentions.

The landmark international competition for quality extra virgin olive oil organized by Veronafiere saw the Sol d’Oro in the Fruity category go to Azienda Agricola Pietrabianca from Casal Velino, in the province of Salerno, while the Spanish producer Finca La Reja Bobadilla – Malaga won the Sol d’Oro in the Organic category.

All the silver and bronze medals were taken by Italian olive oils, with Abruzzo in the forefront and Umbria taking the podium for the first time. Several companies have already won awards in the past, demonstrating that there is no room for improvisation in producing a good extra virgin olive oil, but there were also a number of “new entries”.

 

“We were concerned that a year when overall quality was below average in view of a difficult harvest in Italy characterized by particularly unfavourable climate conditions,” said Marino Giorgetti, Sol d’Oro Panel Chief, “but we had to think again. The large number of samples entered also demonstrated a remarkable capacity among producers in assessing the quality of their oils. In particular, the quality level was quite astonishing for the oils entered in the Organic Category, theoretically the one most at risk when faced by difficult weather conditions as in 2014.”

“Extra virgin olive oil is a product of excellence among Italian agro-foods, the outcome of still unmatched production and cultural traditions. “Veronafiere and Sol d’Oro have always encouraged comparison between different countries so that producers can share the value of quality,”  said Damiano Berzacola, Vice-President of Veronafiere. The results are evident and, thanks to growing numbers of participants, even made it possible to split the event in two with the creation of Sol d’Oro Southern Hemisphere.”

Two hundred and thirty eight samples were entered in the competition, in line with 2014 when eighty samples were entered from Chile alone.

Olive oils winning medals, complete with the tasting file drafted by 13 panel judges, will be included in the “The Stars of Sol d’Oro” guidebook by Sol&Agrifood – scheduled 22-25 March 2015 (www.solagrifood.com) – available on the website of the event. During Sol&Agrifood itself, it will be possible to taste the olive oils winning prizes in the Sol d’Oro Northern Hemisphere Competition 2015 as well as the winners of the Southern Hemisphere 2014 event in the Olive Oil Bar created in collaboration with Onaoo, the national organization of olive oil tasters.

 

List of Winners – SOL D’ORO 2015

Delicate fruit category:

Sol d’Oro – Azienda Agricola Pietrabianca, Casalvelino (Salerno) – Campania

Sol d’Argento – Frantoio della Valle, Prezza (L’Aquila) – Abruzzo

Sol di Bronzo – Azienda Agricola La Selvotta, Vasto (Chieti) – Abruzzo

 

Medium fruit category:

Sol d’Oro – Azienda Agricola La Tonda, Buccheri (Siracusa) – Sicily

Sol d’Argento – Azienda Agricola Paolo Bonomelli, Torri del Benaco (Verona) – Veneto

Sol di Bronzo – Soc. Agricola Fonte di Foiano, Castagneto Carducci (Livorno) – Tuscany

 

Intense fruit category:

Sol d’Oro – Azienda Agricola Terraliva, Siracusa – Sicily

Sol d’Argento – Frantoio Franci, Montenero d’Orcia (Grosseto) – Tuscany

Sol di Bronzo – Frantoio Gaudenzi, Trevi (Perugia) – Umbria

 

Organic olive oil category:

Sol d’Oro – Finca La Reja s.l., Bobadilla (Malaga) – Spain

Sol d’Argento – Agraria Riva del Garda, Riva del Garda (Trento) – Trentino Alto Adige

Sol di Bronzo – Azienda Agricola Tommaso Masciantonio, Casoli (Chieti) – Abruzzo

 

Single variety category:

Sol d’Oro – Società Agrestis, Buccheri (Siracusa) – Sicily

Sol d’Argento – Società Agricola OlioCRU, Arco (Trento) – Trentino Alto Adige

Sol di Bronzo – Frantoio Hermes di Di Mercurio Claudio, Penne (Pescara) – Abruzzo

 

The complete list of Special Mentions is available at www.solagrifood.com