The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food recently announced the Alimentos de España Awards for the Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil (2021-2022 harvesting season), with the distinction in the Conventional Mature category going to none other than the Castelanotti Arbequina from one of our favourite suppliers.
Designed to promote the highest quality Spanish extra virgin olive oils and encourage producers to obtain and market quality oils, the Alimentos de España Awards always draw a huge field, so this is quite a coup for the Castelanotti brand!
The judges described the Arbequina as “an intense fruity oil with ripe notes of apple, banana and almond. Notes of dried fruit, cinnamon and vanilla stand out. On the palate it is sweet and almond-shaped and slightly bitter and spicy.”
When we visited the Castelanotti operation just out of Cordoba, we were deeply impressed with the care and passion that goes into every element of the operation—right through to converting the leftover olive leaves, twigs, and pips into a rich compost to feed back into their olive groves. So it’s great to see this recognition of a labour of love of more than 40 years!
