A Record Field at the 2017 World Olive Oil Competition
Every spring, hundreds of oils from dozens of countries are judged blind at the world’s largest olive-oil competition. The leaderboard makes headlines, but the real story is always the spread — how many more places are now making oil worth a medal.
The New York competition is the biggest of its kind, and its method is what makes it useful. A panel of trained tasters judges hundreds of oils blind — no brand, no price, no story — scoring purely on aroma, fruitiness, balance and the absence of faults. Awards are handed out as gold and silver. Because the label cannot flatter the oil, a medal is a rare honest signal in a market thick with marketing.
Read the climbers, not just the leaders
Italy, Spain and the United States usually top the medal count by sheer volume of entries. But the interesting movement is underneath: in a strong year, Greece can more than double its haul and a small country like Croatia can set a national record. Portugal, Slovenia, Uruguay, South Africa, Turkey and others keep appearing among the winners. The headline is the leaderboard; the story is that brilliant oil now comes from a far wider map than the famous three flags.
What a medal does and does not tell you
A medal tells you that, on the day, a serious jury judged that oil to be genuinely good extra virgin — fresh, fruity, fault-free. That is worth a great deal. What it cannot tell you is whether the specific bottle in your hand is still in that condition: oil is perishable, and a medal-winning oil bottled two harvests ago and left in the light is no longer the oil that won. The award points you at a good producer; the harvest date confirms the bottle.
Using competitions to shop smarter
The practical move is to treat the results as a shortlist, then apply the same discipline this site always preaches. A medal-winning Greek or Croatian oil is frequently superb and cheaper than a fashionable Tuscan name, precisely because it lacks the marketing premium. So use the list to discover producers off the beaten track, then check origin and a recent harvest date before you buy. That combination — third-party jury plus freshness check — is about as close to a guarantee as this market offers.
| What it is | A large blind-tasting olive-oil competition |
|---|---|
| How judged | Trained panel, labels hidden, scored on aroma/fruit/balance/faults |
| Awards | Gold and silver |
| Perennial leaders | Italy, Spain, United States (by entry volume) |
| The real signal | Rising medal counts from many smaller origins |
| Buyer’s rule | Use as a shortlist, then check origin + harvest date |
How to use the results
- Treat a medal as a shortlist filter, not a finish line.
- Follow the climbers — Greece, Croatia, Portugal — for value the famous names can’t match.
- Always confirm a recent harvest date; a medal ages, the oil more so.
- Check the oil names its origin, not just a country of bottling.
Olive-oil competitions: common questions
How are the oils judged?
By a trained panel tasting blind — no labels, prices or brand stories — scoring aroma, fruitiness, balance and the absence of defects. Oils that pass earn gold or silver.
Does winning a medal guarantee my bottle is good?
It tells you the producer made an excellent oil that season. It cannot guarantee the specific bottle is still fresh, so always check the harvest date.
Why do Italy and Spain usually lead?
Largely because they enter the most oils. The more telling figures are the fast-rising medal counts from smaller origins like Greece and Croatia.
Are medal-winning oils expensive?
Not necessarily. A winner from a less fashionable origin is often cheaper than a famous name of equal quality, because it carries less marketing premium.
How should I use competition results?
As a discovery shortlist. Find a promising producer, then confirm the oil names its origin and carries a recent harvest date before buying.
Year after year, the honest headline hides under the leaderboard. The famous flags win most medals because they enter most oils — but the number that should catch your eye is how many countries you would never think of now show up among the winners. For a shopper that is money on the table: a medal-winning Greek or Croatian oil is routinely as good as a marked-up Tuscan bottle and costs less. Use the list to go exploring, then do the one thing the medal can’t do for you — check the harvest date.
Drawn from published results of the New York International Olive Oil Competition and its blind-judging methodology.