By Daniel Dawson (Olive Oil Times)
Greek producer Salvation Olive Oil has won a Gold Award at the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition for its delicate Myrtolia.
The Lakonia-based company produced eight tons of extra virgin olive oil in the 2019/20 season using traditional harvesting methods.
“We were overcome with pride and joy at winning in New York,” owner Kyriakos Apostolakis said. “At the same time, there is this growing sense of responsibility; we wish to fully maintain the high quality of our production.”
“After gaining the experts’ trust, the next goal is to stand out in the global market of high-quality olive oils, and be embraced by consumers worldwide,” he added.
Apostolakis said that 2019 was a pretty good year, overall, but he did have to contend with dry weather and rain at inopportune moments throughout the harvest.
“The olive trees in our olive groves in particular were healthy in 2019,” he said. “A cold spring was followed by warm summer months, with temperatures that were not very high; sprouts were not affected.”
“The only issues were the intense drought throughout the summer months until autumn and the rather rainy winter, which made it difficult to harvest,” Apostolakis added.
The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, held each spring in New York, is the world’s largest and most prestigious olive oil contest and its annual listing of award winners is considered the authoritative guide to the year’s best extra virgin olive oils.
The complete list of winners can be viewed on the Official Index of the World’s Best Olive Oils.
Best Olive Oils (May 15, 2020)