2011 Sonoma Harvest Fair Olive Oil Competition

I don’t know what’s more fun—tasting the oils submitted to this competition, or spending a morning with Anne Vercelli. I was invited for the first time last year to judge oils with fellow olive oil tasters Franco Dunn and Julie Menge. Anne, a long-time figure at this fair, was a non-stop bundle of energy—greeting us, pouring and distributing the oils, sitting with us as we scored each oil and recording the results—a one-woman show.

This year she had an assistant and had organized a second panel. (Last year the number of oils submitted taxed our three-person panel.)

Go to the link below to see the winners.

http://harvestfair.org/docs/2011_olive_oil.pdf

2011 Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition

This year I judged oil for the sixth time at this renowned competition. 374 producers submitted 599 olive oils from 23 countries, record numbers. In addition to the Americans judging, there were judges from Spain, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia.

See the link below for more information. http://www.fairplex.com/wos/olive_oil_competition/AwardsCelebration/winners.asp

2011 Yolo County Fair Olive Oil Competition

The Yolo County Fair, which receives more entries every year, now has the results of the competition on their web site. As one of the judges, I was treated to a home-cooked lunch prepared by the volunteers. We gather in a low wooden building on the fairgrounds and take a much-needed break in the tastings. This open hospitality adds to the pleasure of judging at this competition.

This year, a special award was created to honor Patty Bogle-Roncoroni, a long-time supporter of the fair who died recently. We tasted the Best of Show oils a second time to select the Best of the Best. The award went to Katz Rock Hill Ranch organic extra-virgin olive oil.

See all the winners at the link below. http://www.yolocountyfair.net/html/olive_oil_competition.html

2011 California Olive Oil Council Competition

The COOC held its third olive oil competition in February, 2011. As a member of the taste panel, I was one of the judges. All the oils are certified by the council and the bottles have a seal of extra-virgin certification.

Go to the link below to view all the winners:

http://www.cooc.com/WinnersCOOC2011.pdf