Croatian Producer Al Torcio Wins With Moraiolo, Leccino

Al Torcio has won two Silver Awards at the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

The moment you stop striving for the stars, your development path is coming to an end.

Karmino Beletić, owner

The Croatian company was awarded for two monovarietals: a medium Moraiolo and delicate Leccino.

"Silver is good, but we can do much better," owner Karmino Beletić said. "I'm sure that next harvest will be the right one. The moment you stop striving for the stars, your development path is coming to an end."

In the 2019/20 season, Al Torcio produced 5,500 liters of extra virgin olive using traditional methods.

In spite of this year's success, Beletić said that switching oil mills and an olive fruit fly infestation both impacted the quality of the harvest.

"The 2019 harvest was impacted by olive fly, which significantly reduced the quality of the fruits," he said. "In our case, we also had a problem when we switched oil mills. Due to delays by the suppliers, we started processing much later than usual, which ultimately affected the quality of our olive oils.

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