Tag: extra virgin olive oil

The best extra virgin olive oils in Italy 2024: the ranking – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

By popular demand, here we are at the ranking of best extra virgin olive oils of Italy 2024 as winners of the XXXII edition of the Ercole Olivario national competition. EVO oil is an important business, in fact. Perhaps not everyone knows that they exist in Italy more than 500 varieties of oil and that our country is on the podium of the major world producers, in second place, with 290 thousand tons in 2023 alone – important numbers for Yellow Gold. Over one million hectares cultivated with olive trees, present in practically all regions of Italy, each with its own characteristics, but in particular in Puglia, where half of Italian extra virgin olive oil is produced.

That said, it is more than reasonable to be interested in finding out what the best extra virgin olive oils in Italy. Excellent reference is the prestigious national competition called Ercole Olivario, organized by the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce since 1992, which every year in Perugia gives the names of the best national producers and their flagship labels.

The best extra virgin olive oils in Italy: the 2024 ranking

The 12 awarded labels come from all over Italy, which represent the best productions in the country, which stood out in the two categories provided, Extra Virgin and Dop/Igp certified Extra Virgin Oils. Here they are award-winning labels for the 2024 edition as the best productions in Italy.

For the Dop/Igp Light Fruity category

1st Place – Batta DOP Umbria Colli del Trasimeno from Frantoio Batta, Umbria

For the Dop/Igp Medium Fruity category

1st place – Colleruita DOP Umbria Colli Assisi – Spoleto from the Viola di Foligno (Pg) company, Umbria

2nd place – Brioleum Garda Dop Trentino from the Brioleum farm in Arco (Tn), Trentino Alto Adige

3rd Place – Agrestis Nettaribleo DOP/BIO PDO Monti Iblei – Monte Lauro sub-area of the Agrestis agricultural cooperative society of Buccheri (Sr), Sicily

For the Intense Fruity Dop/Igp category

1st place – Hirpinia Dop Irpinia – Colline dell’Ufita from the San Comaio di Zungoli (Av) company, Campania

2nd place – ORGANIC Bio Igp Toscano of the Frantoio Franci of Montenero (Gr), Tuscany

For the Extra Virgin Light Fruity category

1st Place – Molensis of the Marina Colonna company of San Martino in Pensilis (Cb), Molise

For the Medium Fruity Extra Virgin Category

1st place – Gangalupo of the Bisceglie Maria di Santo Spirito (Ba) agricultural company, Puglia

The best extra virgin olive oils 2024: the international ranking – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

After a prestigious ranking on Italian extra virgin olive oils, it is time to have precise data on what the best extra virgin olive oils 2024 internationally – where Italy also stands out. To have certainties, we turned to Marco Oreggiajournalist and food and wine critic and expert taster, coordinator of the guide Flos Olei 2024 which, again this year, has selected the best extra virgin olive oils from all over the world.

Now in its thirteenth edition and in view of 25 years of publication, the guide is unanimously considered the most important publication in the sector at a global level, a sort of olive atlas, which reviews 500 companies of excellence «selected with a difference of 20-30% (therefore 770 companies), coming from 42 countries around the world. Climate changes and technology have now allowed foreign countries to produce a very high quality product, in addition to Italy.

Before moving on to ranking of the best extra virgin olive oils 2024a little tip from the expert Marco Oreggia, which is always handy: how long does extra virgin olive oil last? And his answer opens up even less obvious scenarios.

«The FLOS OLEI guide works on a project that includes two hemispheres, the northern one and the southern one of the world, therefore with two different tasting times, because they are 4-6 months apart. Tasting from March to May for the northern hemisphere and from April and May to July for the southern hemisphere of the world”, explains Oreggia. «Of course, then oil, by law, has its own shelf life and expiry 18 monthsbut all linked to the quality of the harvest and management/processing of the olives, so it would be 12 months as general advice.

The ranking of the best extra virgin olive oils 2024 in categories

After the ranking of the 500 companies included in the guide, the companies participating with extra virgin olive oils were classified according to different categories, with an entry score of 80/100: Hall of Fame, The Bestin addition to Special Awards. Here are the winners:

* Hall of Fame

In the Hall of Fame, among the 9 selected, there are 5 Italian companies, but the highest podium is all from Spain. The Italians are confirmed Comincioli Agricultural Company (Lombardy), Bonamini oil mill (Veneto), Franci oil mill (Tuscany), Viola Agricultural Company (Umbria) e Americo Quattrociocchi (Lazio), as well as the Spanish ones Casas de Hualdo (Castilla-La Mancha), Castillo de Canena And Aceites Finca La Torre (Andalucía). Mate (Croatia) is the Istrian company that wins a place in the prestigious ranking. «We historicize the path of the individual company over the years, we are interested in those that produce high quality and have a diversified production volume in the world. Spain remains the most productive, 3-4 times more than us, and this is not at the expense of quality, because the large producers manage to obtain it with oils produced by smaller mills. Then they have more cooperativism than us, and in the world of catering they are our thorn in the side also thanks to lower production costs and therefore more competitive prices.” The general criterion of the guide follows “the valorization that each individual company entrusts to local, environmental and varietal biodiversity”.

Tagliatelle recipe with black truffle and extra virgin olive oil – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

L’Umbriawith its green hills and centuries-old woods, is the undisputed homeland of black truffle, a true jewel of nature, hidden in the depths of the earth, guardian of a unique aroma and flavour. It is a place where the culinary tradition and the nature they meet, creating harmonies of flavors that you absolutely must try at least once.

Now, imagine capturing the essence of this land and bringing it directly into your kitchen. The tagliatelle with black truffle and extra virgin olive oil they are a triumph of these flavours: the richness of trufflethe liquid gold ofoil and the pasta fresh homemade create a combination of taste and tradition.

If you are ready to take a trip to the flavours of Umbria, to immerse yourself in the charm of a recipe rich And refinedthen sharpen your pasta scissors… It’s time to start this culinary adventure among the scents and tastes of the land of truffles!