This year Marlene Loubser from Lamara Two Rivers joined for the first time the judging tasting panel for the SA OLIVE 2020 awards.
The judging event was held at Bernheim just outside of Paarl during the week of 17 – 21 August. The challenge was to taste all 104 Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOOs) entered into the 2020 SA Olive Awards competition, of which 34 were awarded gold medals.
The Absa Top 10 Olive Oils were then selected from the gold medal winners of the SA Olive Awards. The EVOOs were blind tasted by a panel of trained tasters and they all concurred that it was a close race between the entries.
The 2020 Absa Top 10 Olive Oils according to their categories are:
Delicate:
Cederberg Olives – Cederberg Olives Frantoio
Rio Largo Olive Estate – Rio Largo Gold
Kleinbergskloof Olive Estate – Kleinbergskloof Frantoio
Medium:
Zoetigheyd – Zoetigheyd Frantoio
Morgenster – Morgenster EVOO
Wildekrans Wine Estate – Wildekrans Endless EVOO
Chaloner – The Peregrine Limited Edition
PG Fruit Olives – Pai Parakore EVOO
Intense:
Porterville Olives – Andante Intenso
Mardouw Investments ZA – XXV Intense