Sol d’Oro held its first Southern Hemisphere edition last week in Santiago, bringing together top producers from Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, South Africa, Australia and Chile.
Following the same guidelines used at the original Sol d’Oro in Verona over the past twelve years, an international panel led by Dr. Marino Giorgetti chose the best oils in three categories — light, medium and intense — from among 71 entries.
Panel Cata Chile played a key role in bringing the event to the nation’s capital and has been working to promote consumption of Chilean olive oil at home since its founding in 2012. Chile’s Ministry of Agriculture, ProChile, the Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) and the Chilean Image Foundation were also supporters.
“We are very pleased with the reception we’ve had at this first edition of the competition. We wanted to surprise the jury with the high quality of oils from the southern regions of the world, and we did it,” said Panel Cata Chile president Jose Mingo.
This year the top prize in the intense category went to “50 años,” an extra virgin olive oil developed in Huasco by Chile’s Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA) in celebration of its 50 years as an organization.
“We are very proud of this award received by INIA Chile together with the producers of Huasco. Without a doubt their teamwork is embodied in this recognition by the best olive oil tasters in the world,” said Héctor Echeverría, a member of the INIA’s advisory council who received the award along with Horacio López, executive director of the Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA).
Sol d’Oro Southern Hemisphere Winners
Light
1st prize: Hacienda Laguna Torca (Chile)
2nd prize: “Piuqué Blend” by Daniel Emprendimientos S.A. (Argentina)
3rd prize: “Olave Nocellara” by Valle Grande S.A. (Chile)
Medium
1st prize: “Director’s Reserve” by Willow Creek (South Africa)
2nd prize: “Colinas de Garzón Bivarietal” by Agroland S.A. (Uruguay)
3rd prize: “Deleyda Premium” by Olivos Valle del Sol S.A. (Chile)
Intense
1st prize: “50 años” by INIA Intihuasi (Chile)
2nd prize: “Alonso” by Agrícola Pobeña S.A. (Chile)
3rd prize: “Almaoliva Varietal Coratina” by Alma Oliva S.A. (Argentina)
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