Renowned Sommelier Program Expands in Europe

Olive Oil Times is part­ner­ing with the Olive Oil Academy in the Netherlands to offer its flag­ship Sommelier Program in Europe.

The five-day course cov­er­ing olive oil sen­sory analy­sis, pro­duc­tion best prac­tices, health ben­e­fits, nutri­tion, culi­nary appli­ca­tions and qual­ity assur­ance will make its European debut in September at the Jamfabriek in ​‘s‑Hertogenbosch, about 80 kilo­me­ters south of Amsterdam.

Curtis Cord, the found­ing CEO of Olive Oil Times and the NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, said the Olive Oil Academy team ​“embod­ies our pro­gram’s mis­sion to empower a gen­er­a­tion of olive oil edu­ca­tors.”

“Collaboration is key to advanc­ing olive oil edu­ca­tion on a global scale,” said Christianne Noordermeer Van Loo, the Olive Oil Academy’s exec­u­tive direc­tor and a 2023 alum of the Olive Oil Times Sommelier Program.

“By join­ing forces with Olive Oil Times, we can com­bine the best resources, exper­tise and teach­ing meth­ods to ensure that stu­dents receive top-tier train­ing in olive oil eval­u­a­tion and appre­ci­a­tion,” she added.

“We inte­grate the lat­est sci­en­tific dis­cov­er­ies and mar­ket trends to ensure the pro­gram per­fectly aligns with the needs of pro­fes­sion­als and enthu­si­asts,” said van Grinsven-Padberg, who com­pleted the Olive Oil Times pro­gram in 2017 and now serves as an International Olive Council panel leader at the Olive Oil Institute.

Noordermeer Van Loo and van Grinsven-Padberg touted the Jamfabriek and ​‘s‑Hertogenbosch as an ideal loca­tion for the pro­gram.

The Jamfabriek, a for­mer jam fac­tory, has been trans­formed into an event space with facil­i­ties tai­lored for food prepa­ra­tion and demon­stra­tions.

“Known for its rich his­tory and vibrant culi­nary scene, ​‘s‑Hertogenbosch pro­vides an inspir­ing back­drop for the som­me­lier course,” Noordermeer Van Loo and van Grinsven-Padberg said. ​“Participants can immerse them­selves in the city’s cul­tural her­itage while deep­en­ing their appre­ci­a­tion for olive oil.”

The city of 161,000 peo­ple, founded in 1185, is well con­nected by train and bus. Four major air­ports — Amsterdam, Brussels, Eindhoven and Rotterdam — are within an hour, mak­ing it acces­si­ble for atten­dees trav­el­ing from any­where.

The Sommelier Certificate Program, first held in New York City in 2016, with later edi­tions in London and San Francisco, boasts nearly 500 Olive Oil Times Certified Sommeliers work­ing in every facet of the olive oil world.

From researchers and award-win­ning pro­duc­ers to importers, entre­pre­neurs and curi­ous con­sumers, Sommelier Certificate Program alumni from all walks of life have praised the course.

“I truly loved every sin­gle moment of the course. This week was hon­estly mind­blow­ing. Teachers are all fan­tas­tic, pan­els were great and com­plex but also enter­tain­ing,” said Emese Tombor after com­plet­ing the pro­gram in London.

Award-win­ning pro­ducer Mehmet Taki attended the pro­gram in London in 2023 and planned to apply some of the new farm­ing and milling tech­niques he learned.

“It is a very well-bal­anced pro­gram, not only lim­ited to the tast­ing of the olive oil but also pro­vid­ing solid infor­ma­tion on every aspect from farm­ing to stor­age, new trends and prac­tices,” he said.

Over the years, many alumni have said they came to the course to learn how to rec­og­nize high-qual­ity and defec­tive ones to advise cus­tomers and clients.

“We wanted to increase our knowl­edge to pass along to our chefs, retail­ers and dis­trib­u­tors as well as expose our palates to oils out­side of our Spanish com­pe­ten­cies,” said Karrie Kimble, an importer at Philosophy Foods who attended in New York in 2019.

“The pro­gram is mind-blow­ing; I had thought that it was too expen­sive. I believe it should cost more,” said Herman Pobrati, who also recently attended the London course. ​“I’ve learned so much and my per­cep­tion of the EVOO world has changed for the bet­ter. Excellent.”

“Revelation after rev­e­la­tion, super­star lineup, the best it could have been. A world-class train­ing and expe­ri­ence,” said a new Sommelier, Jacqueline Conibeer.

Van Grinsven-Padberg said the col­lab­o­ra­tion with Olive Oil Times would set a bench­mark in olive oil edu­ca­tion in Europe, going beyond the purview of tra­di­tional train­ing courses.

“Whether you are a pro­ducer, chef, buyer or an enthu­si­as­tic con­nois­seur, you’ll gain the tools to eval­u­ate, appre­ci­ate and advo­cate for high-qual­ity extra vir­gin olive oil,” she said.

Registration for the September 22 – 25 course is already open.