KNYSNA NEWS - Local entrepreneur and olive oil afficionado Rob Still recently had a very special jewel added to his crown. De Rustica Olive Estates in the De Rust area, which Still founded and owns, won an array of awards at the recent EVOOLEUM Awards in Spain.
This included being crowned the Overall Best Olive Oil in the world.
The EVOOLEUM Awards is a Spanish competition promoted by Mercacei magazine and AEMO (the Spanish Association of Olive Tree Municipalities), which assesses the quality of extra virgin olive oils from all over the world.
A panel of 26 judges blind-tasted nearly 1 000 olive oil samples from global producers during the awards.
De Rustica selected and entered its Coratina variant, which was first announced as one of the top 100 extra virgin olive oils (EVOO) in the world, before they received the incredible news on 26 April that they had not only won an array of awards, but had been judged to be the best EVOO in the world
The triumph of the 4 000ha-olive farm that is nestled in the Swartberg Mountains only 5km from De Rust, marks the first time in the history of the EVOOLEUM Awards that an EVOO from outside Spain or Italy has been named the EVOOLEUM Overall Best.
"This award is testament to the passion and dedication to quality of the entire De Rustica team," said Still. "We've won many international awards and local awards to date but nothing of this scale, so we're very chuffed with that. This contest is one of the most independent and rigorous of all... to come top is beyond our wildest dreams in many ways."
In addition to being named the best extra virgin olive oil there is, De Rustica received four more awards – Best from South Africa; Best Coratina; Best Monovarietal/Single Cultivar; and Best Mixture Green and Ripe Fruity.
History of De Rustica
De Rustica Olive Estates was founded in 2006 by Still, who at the time hailed from Johannesburg where he spent many years in the mining industry as a developer/entrepreneur. It would take a further six years before production started, with 75 000 olive trees planted during this time.
Having owned a holiday home in Knysna since 2006, Still made the permanent move to the coastal town in 2012 when De Rustica officially began its production. The estate produces a medium and intense blend and each year releases a few selected single varieties such as Coratina, which is this year's global top EVOO, and Frantoio.
Other awards won
Since production began, De Rustica has consistently won awards, both domestically and internationally. These include multiple golds at the annual New York World Olive Competition and Best in the Southern Hemisphere at the Sol D'Oro Awards in 2018. Last year in the EVOOLEUM Awards, the farm's EVOO was ranked sixth globally.
Top SA quality
Rob believes that most South African olive oils are of a very high standard reflecting good climate, irrigation infrastructure, recent modern cultivars and processing equipment and manual picking.
"What makes De Rustica special is the farm's dedicated staff who are committed to high standards together with a suitable micro-climate and pure mountain water."
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