Competing with 563 olive oils from 22 international locations, Greek olive oils captured 176 awards on the seventh Athena Worldwide Olive Oil Competitors this 12 months. In Sitia, Crete, 30 judges from 12 international locations evaluated virtually equal numbers of samples from Greece and overseas, with the outcomes suggesting that the standard of Greek olive oil continues to enhance annually.
The share of Greek entries incomes medals elevated from 54% of the Greek oils entered final 12 months to 61% in 2022. Greek flavored olive oils have been particularly profitable, with 28 of the 36 samples profitable awards. Awarded oils got here from many components of the nation and plenty of completely different olive varieties.
The Better of Greece award, the Greatest Koroneiki selection additional virgin olive oil (EVOO) worldwide and Greatest Koroneiki of Greece distinctions, in addition to a double gold medal, all went to Terra Creta Kolymvari EVOO from Crete. Terra Creta additionally earned a double gold for his or her Grand Cru Koroneiki EVOO, a gold medal for Terra Creta Basil Bio, and a silver for Terra Creta Lemon Bio, two natural flavored Koroneiki olive oils.
Emmanouil Karpadakis defined to Greek Liquid Gold that many components allow Terra Creta to provide massive portions of fantastic olive oil. “A clean collaboration between groups of farmers and our specialists is essential, together with our dedication to high quality, innovation, transparency, and respect for the product and the atmosphere by way of sustainable practices. We’re very pleased with our direct collaboration with farmers. As well as, the pliability of our revolutionary olive mill permits us to work repeatedly on exploring new tasting profiles of Koroneiki selection olives.” That exploration has yielded lengthy lists of main awards at necessary worldwide competitions.
The Greatest Greek natural EVOO and Greatest olive oil from Laconia, Peloponnese distinctions each went to Olive Poem – a drop of artwork, a mix of 70% Koroneiki and 30% Myrtoelia additional virgin olive oils. As Theodoros Koutsotheodoris explains, Olive Poem is “a really small firm that produces a single-estate olive oil from an olive grove that follows essentially the most conventional agriculture.”
As Koutsotheodoris provides, on Olive Poem’s property “all of the vegetation are self-germinated within the grove and grafted with tissues of olive varieties from timber already current within the grove. It isn’t solely natural, however essentially the most pure type of agriculture. The timber are properly tailored within the subject, and so they have little or no want for dietary or phytosanitary assist. So the signature of our mission is the terroir of our olive grove and pure, conventional agriculture.”
Made out of limes that have been crushed entire, and the oil from Koroneiki olives from Laconia, Laconiko Lime received a double gold medal and designation as the competition’s Greatest Flavored olive oil for the second 12 months in a row. These have been simply two of Laconiko’s 9 awards. Laconiko Meyer Lemon additionally claimed a double gold medal, whereas Laconiko’s Dillemon earned a gold, Lemon Thyme received a silver, and Garlic and Mushroom Thyme acquired bronze medals. Laconiko’s additional virgin olive oils earned awards as properly: a silver medal for Laconiko EVOO and a bronze for Olio Nuovo.
Diamantis Pierrakos is happy to have received awards from a revered worldwide competitors primarily based in Greece: “as a result of Greece is the place our olive oils are born, they should be acknowledged of their place of origin.” Pierrakos emphasizes that he and his group at Laconiko “consistently give 110% of ourselves to provide one of the best we are able to. We’re sincere, and the samples that we compete with are a real illustration of all of our oils that we provide our prospects, as we proceed to enhance and provide them the best possible.”
Hailing from land northwest of Laconia within the space of Historic Olympia, the competitors’s Greatest Greek olive oil from Elis, Peloponnese was Olympian Fantasy by The Olive Temple. This Koroneiki EVOO additionally received a double gold medal, whereas the corporate’s Laurel & Flame Recent, created from Tsabidolia olives, and Laurel & Flame Olympia PGI, a Koroneiki – Kolireiki mix, captured gold medals.
Alexis Karabelas credit many issues for his group’s awards, together with their agronomists’ use of natural farming and oil extraction inside 4 hours, and their utilization of “inexperienced power.” Karabelas believes their revolutionary olive mill makes “the large distinction.” He’s additionally pleased with their MY ID Venture, which focuses on high quality and transparency. When shoppers scan a QR code on Olive Temple merchandise, they will entry an excessive amount of data, such because the EVOO’s “chemical evaluation, organoleptic evaluation, awards, and meals pairing options and recipes.”
The opposite Greek double gold medal went to Vatsiko additional virgin olive oil from the Agricultural Cooperative Eleonas, which produces licensed high quality agricultural merchandise in Gargaliani, Messinia. (“Vatsiko” is a reputation used for the Koroneiki olive selection in Messinia.) This 150-member cooperative cultivates 105,000 olive timber.
Nikolaos Athanasopoulos, the president of the cooperative’s administrative council, reported that “each single olive tree is cultivated below the system of excellent practices and environmental administration. The gathering and processing of olives is completed in a single day, to ensure that the oil to be shielded from temperature adjustments and rotting of the fruit after it’s faraway from the tree.” The cooperative works with respect for the well being, security, and welfare of the atmosphere, producers, and shoppers.
Alexis Karabelas considers the Athena competition “a really properly organized worldwide competitors that takes place in our nation, altering locations yearly and highlighting the gastronomic wealth of every space visited.” He appreciates not solely the awards he receives, however “the analyses they ship us, the ultimate contact on the superb work they do.”
The competitors additionally takes one other additional step: from 1:00 to eight:00 p.m. on Might 29, earlier than the 7:30 p.m. awards ceremony, there can be a public tasting of the award-winning olive oils in Zappeion Megaron Exhibition Corridor in Athens.
With their ministries among the many competitors’s most necessary supporters, the Greek Minister of Service provider Transport and Island Coverage and the Common Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Improvement and Meals noticed a part of the olive oil analysis course of in Crete. Up to now, dignitaries have additionally attended the Athena competitors’s tasting day and awards ceremony to pattern a number of the finest examples of this conventional Greek and worldwide treasure, the liquid gold olive oil.
Greek Double Gold and Gold Medal Winners
Double Gold Medals
(Olive Oil, Producer, Selection, Area)
- Terra Creta Kolymvari – Terra Creta – Koroneiki – Crete, Chania
- Laconiko Lime (Flavored) – Laconiko – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Laconia
- Terra Creta Grand Cru – Terra Creta – Koroneiki – Crete, Chania
- Laconiko Meyer Lemon (Flavored) – Laconiko – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Laconia
- Olympian Fantasy Strong – A.M.G. Karabelas Household – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Elis
- Olive Poem (Natural) – Olive Poem – Koroneiki 75%, Mirtolia 25% – Peloponnese, Laconia
- Vatsiko – Eleonas – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Messenia
Gold Medals
(Olive Oil, Producer, Selection, Area)
Terra Creta Basil Bio (Flavored, Natural) – Terra Creta – Koroneiki – Crete, Chania
Elasion – Elasion – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
Argali Greek Natural – Giovanni Bianchi – Argali – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Messenia
Marmaro – Garofallos Dimitrios – Hondroelia of Chalkidiki – Macedonia, Chalkidiki
Laurel & Flame Recent – A.M.G. Karabelas Household – Tsampidoelia – Peloponnese, Elis
Hermes Dimarakis Property Mandarin (Flavored, Natural) – Hermes – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Argolis
Pellas Nature Sage (Flavored) – Pellas Nature – Koroneiki – Macedonia, Pella
Apirooil – Apirooil – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Laconia
Castello Zacro Zitronen (Flavored) – Deligreece – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
My Olive Tree – My Olive Tree – M. Karelas Bros – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Messenia
Ploumi – Elaiomylos Karepidis – Koroneiki – Crete, Heraklion
One Root – Cretan Heritage – Koroneiki – Crete, Chania
Crimson Sparrow – Scrumptious Crete – Koroneiki 50%, Amfissis 30%, Tsounati 20% – Crete, Heraklion
Omikron (Natural) – Voyiatzis Organics – Kolovi 60%, Andramitini 40% – Aegean Islands, Lesbos
Mediterre Olymp Olympia Natural – Mediterre Eurofood – Koroneiki 80%, Kolireiki 20% – Peloponnese, Elis
Eliama Day by day Worth Premium – Ellis Farm – Koroneiki – Crete, Heraklion
Mediterre Oregano (Flavored) – Mediterre Eurofood – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Elis
Laconiko Dillemon (Flavored) – Laconiko – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Laconia
Mythogea Cretan Natural – Melira – Koroneiki – Crete, Chania
Alfa Plus – Agricultural Olive Cooperative of Akrasi – Kolovi 95%, Andramitini 5% – Aegean Islands, Lesbos
One & Olive Premium – Olive Ergo – Αnagnostopoulos – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Messenia
Sapfo – Papadellis Olive Oil – Kolovi 70%, Andramitini 20%, Agrielia 10% – Aegean Islands, Lesbos
Mythogea Early Harvest – Melira – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Elis
Theion Elaion (Natural) – Biositia – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
Terra Zakros – Nikolaos Ailamakis – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
Ena Ena Natural – Hellenic Fields – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Elis
Lio – Lio Pure – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Elis
Mediterre Alea (Natural) – Mediterre Eurofood – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Elis
Ktima Olon (Natural) – Ktima Olon – Koroneiki – Aegean Islands, Lemnos
Pamako Premium Mountain Natural Monovarietal – Androulakis Eftychios Olive Oil Bottling Pamako – Tsounati – Crete, Chania
Laurel & Flame – A.M.G. Karabelas Household – Koroneiki 90%, Kolireiki 10% – Peloponnese, Elis
Dafni (Natural) – Bio Olivenöl Dafni – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
39/22 Koroneiki – Nice Tales – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Argolis
Mediterre Omphacium – Mediterre Eurofood – Olympia 100% – Peloponnese, Elis
Archetypon – Olive Groves Archetypon – Koroneiki – Peloponnese, Messenia
Cretanthos Bio Early Harvest (Natural) – Cretanthos – Koroneiki – Crete, Rethymno
Castello Zacro Basilikum (Flavored) – Deligreece – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
Imera – Agricultural Olive Cooperative of Imera – Olive of Chalkidiki 80%, Megaritiki 10%, Prodromou, Koroneiki, Petroelia 10% – Macedonia, Kozani
Palekastro – Nassiakou Stephania – Koroneiki – Crete, Lasithi
See the competitors web site for the full record of Greek medals and Greek olive oils’ particular awards.
Because of Terra Creta for the picture that seems with this text.
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(This story was initially revealed on Greek Liquid Gold: Genuine Additional Virgin Olive Oil (greekliquidgold.com). See that website for recipes with olive oil, images from Greece, and olive oil information and knowledge.)
