6 minute read
Third time ‘Best’ for Kapiti Olives
2021 Best in Show winners David and Helen Walshaw of Kapiti Olives were thrilled to receive their third Best in Show trophy. Tauherenikau Olives/Olive2Oil owners Rod and Elaine Corlett weren’t able to make the presentation, so celebrated their Best in Class and Best Boutique wins at home with their trees.
Kapiti Olives owners Helen and David Walshaw returned to the winners’ podium at this year’s New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards, taking the coveted Best in Show trophy for the third time. Kapiti also took the top award in 2019, and for the first time in 2010, and have been consistent medal and trophy winners in the competition for the past 18 years.
Major winners
Kapiti took Gold and Best in Class - Commercial Medium Blends before claiming the top trophy for its Frantoio Blend, which comprises predominantly Frantoio fruit along with percentages of Koroneiki, Leccino and Picual.
The Walshaw’s commercial-sized grove of 2,300 trees is located close to the Otaki River and its success at competitions both at home and abroad has helped cement the quality reputation of Kapiti EVOO.
This year that is backed up by fellow Kapiti producer Totara Tunnel, whose Frantoio varietal was named Reserve Best Boutique in Show. A boutique grove of around 550 trees located on the Kapiti Coast, Totara Tunnel is one of the few olive groves in New Zealand following organic practices and all three of their entries in this year’s competition won gold medals.
The Totara Tunnel Frantoio took this year’s award for Best in Class - Boutique Medium Single Varietal, which it also won in 2019, and the company last year took the trophy for Best in Class - Boutique Mild Single Varietal for its Leccino.
The other major award winners are all Wairarapa producers, continuing the ongoing success of the region at the national competition.
The Best Boutique award was won by Tauherenikau Olives/ Olive2Oil’s blend of French Picholene and Greek Koroneiki. The grove of almost 1,300 trees is located near Greytown and owners Rod and Elaine Corlett specialise in boutique production of blended olive oils.
Martinborough producer Blue Earth Intense also won big with a blended EVOO, its Koroneiki and Manzanilla combination taking the Reserve Best in Show title for 2021. The gold-medal winnng oil was also named Best in Class - Commercial Intense Blends, building on its 2020 Best in Class – Boutique Intense Blends and 2018 Best in Class – Commercial Medium Blends trophies.
The award for Best Flavoured Oil was also won by a Wairarapa producer, The Olive Press/Pressed Gold, for its Midori No Yuzu agrumato oil. Made from fresh yuzu fruit and Frantoio EVOO, the Pressed Gold Midori No Yuzu also won Gold and Best in Class – Flavoured Citrus, along with multiple medals for other EVOOs and flavoured oils.
Other awards
Pressed Gold’s parent company The Olive Press was once again named the country’s Best Processor, a title it has held consistently since 2013.
And as an exception to this year’s Kapiti/ Wairarapa dominance, the Best Label trophy was awarded to Hawke’s Bay producer The Village Press.
Record entries
The New Zealand Olive Oil Awards celebrated its 21st edition this year, and fittingly attracted a record number of entries. The 165 entries also earned an astounding 81 gold medals, reflecting both the successful 2021 harvest and the increasing quality of production across the New Zealand industry.
Blue Earth Intense owners Margaret and Mike Hanson were all smiles as they accepted the Reserve Best in Show trophy from Neil Smith from sponsor The Grove Supply Company.
2021 judge Hilary Fenemor (right) presented the Reserve Best Boutique award to Totara Tunnel owners Sally Murrey and Brent Meldrum. The Best in Class Boutique Intense Blends award was presented by Rick Holmes from sponsor Arthur Holmes to Mystery Valley’s David Henderson.
“New Zealand has a growing reputation for producing outstanding extra virgin olive oil that can compete at the highest standard internationally,” Olives New Zealand Executive Officer Gayle Sheridan said.
“Despite challenging growing conditions with our maritime climate, our growers have adopted proactive grove management strategies that have enabled our olive oils to just get better and better every year. We were pretty excited about the 2021 harvest and it’s fantastic to have had this year’s quality recognised with a record number of gold medals awarded.” 2021 Head Judge Charlotte Connoley agreed that the quality of this year’s award entries was superb and reflects the positive progression of the New Zealand industry.
“The achievement of 81 gold medals and 72 silver medals is an outstanding achievement for the industry,” she said.
“The overall quality of the New Zealand oils has improved immeasurably since the early days of the national competition, and the harmony and complexity of the oils entered - across both the single varietals and blends - shows the high levels of skill of those now crafting the oils.
“And it’s great to see that gold medal-winning quality is becoming the standard rather than the exception, as it may have been in the past. We certainly saw this year that the bar has been lifted across the industry as a whole.
“This may in part be due to a good season, but it’s also no doubt a result of the work of Olives New Zealand in providing support and education to growers. Their ongoing focus on improving best practice in grove management and processing practices, including optimal
2021 Major Awards Best in Show - Kapiti Frantoio Blend Reserve Best in Show - Blue Earth Intense Best Boutique - Tauherenikau Olives/Olive2Oil Reserve Best Boutique - Totara Tunnel Frantoio Best Flavoured - Pressed Gold Midori No Yuzu Best in Class Awards Boutique Intense Blends - Mystery Valley Leccino Blend Boutique Medium Single Varietal - Totara Tunnel Frantoio Boutique Medium Blends - Olive2Oil Boutique Intense Single Varietal - Dali Koroneiki Commercial Commercial Medium Blends - Kapiti Frantoio Blend Commercial Medium Single Varietal - Elovi/Tasman Ridge/ Three Groves Frantoio Commercial Intense Blends - Blue Earth Intense Commercial Intense Single Varietal - Loopline Olives Picual Flavoured Flavoured Citrus - Pressed Gold Midori No Yuzu Flavoured Other - Juno Olive Oil Red Chilli
This year’s Best in Class line up.
Dali’s Ross Vintiner (left) accepted the award for Best in Class Boutique Intense from Rick Holmes from sponsor Arthur Holmes.
Tasman Bay’s Roger Armstrong accepted the award for Best in Class Commercial Medium Single Varietal from Lisa Holmes from sponsor Arthur Holmes.
harvest time, racking and optimum storage, is having a huge impact on the overall quality of production across the industry.”
The stats
The 2021 competition was judged by a panel of six experienced judges to International Olive Oil Council Panel (IOC) standards. Due to COVID lockdown restrictions at the time, judging was undertaken remotely: identical coded samples were sent to each judge, who assessed each oil independently then ‘met’ via video conferencing for final adjudications.
There were 165 entries (compared with 128 in 2020), with 81 Gold, 72 Silver and nine Bronze Medals awarded (42 Gold, 75 Silver, 11 Bronze in 2020). Three entries received no medal, compared with nil in 2020.
The medals were awarded across all of the country’s growing regions: Wairarapa received 77, Kapiti 20, Canterbury 19, Nelson 11, Auckland nine, Hawke’s Bay six, Bay of Plenty five, Waiheke Island, Northland and Marlborough four each, and Central Otago three.
A complete list of the results is available on the Olives New Zealand website: www.olivesnz.org.nz/awards.
