Tasting, testing olive oil

The top four in the Commercial class, with four gold medals apiece, are:

• Kloovenburg Cold Extracted Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Kloovenburg Olives)
  
• Morgenster Cold Extracted Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Morgenster)
  
• Olyfberg Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cold Pressed (Olyfberg)
  
• Rio Largo Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cold Extracted (Rio Largo Farming)

Boutique class golds, with one medal each:

• Green & Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Diepsak Farm)
  
• The Lady Olive - Olive Oil (The Lady Olive)
  
• Saint Sebastian Bay Extra Virgin Olive Oil (The Greenleaf Olive Co)
  
• Muiskraal Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cold Pressed (Muiskraal)
  
• Olyven Houdt Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Olyven Houdt Farm)
  
• Waterfall River Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cold Extracted (Waterfall River)

Olive Achiever of the Year

Annalene du Toit of Kloovenburg Estate was named the 2009 ABSA Olive Achiever of the Year for her impressive passion for and contribution to the growth of the industry. Annalene, a driven entrepreneur and qualified olive oil tasting panel leader, has also recently been honoured as the Sanlam/Landbouweekblad Woman Entrepreneur in Agriculture for 2008/09.

Since 2000, her business has grown to include more than 40 olive product lines. She's won several awards and developed a cosmetic range with olive oil as base which are exported to Netherlands, Germany and Mauritius. Annalene also played a momentous role in establishing the Riebeek Valley as a popular olive destination.

The ABSA Olive Achiever trophy is awarded each year to a candidate of any segment of the industry, including olive oil producers, nurseries, table olive producers or processors, or any related product or activity, who has contributed significantly to the development and growth of the local olive industry.

Panel follows wine route

The panel, led by industry stalwart Gerrie Duvenage, consisted of four producers and three non-producers. Gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded on a consensus basis to oils that scored a pre-determined number of points.

“This model has been used with great success by the wine industry and has proven as appropriate to us,” says SA Olive chairperson, Andries Rabie. Entries were tasted blind and judged according to set criteria in terms of style - delicate, medium and intense.

According to Rabie, this year's adjudication process set standards in the olive industry, as only experts from the industry, with acknowledged tasting qualifications and active service on tasting panels, qualified to take part in the judging of this competition.

Go to www.saolive.co.za for full award results.