Record entries for 2021 Hunter Olive Show

Alan and Jocelyn Smith of Shalumar were the very proud recipients of this year’s trophy for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Show from Hunter Valley Fruit. Hunter Olives Growers and Sellers achieved a cache of Silver and Bronze medals across flavoured oil, table olive and tapenade classes, keeping Jeannie Marie Hunter busy at the presentation event. Fairway Hill’s Susan Robinson took home three medals, two Silver and a Bronze, all awarded in the EVOO classes.

The Hunter Olive Show was back with a bang in 2021, following the pandemic-induced postponement of the 2020 competition. A record number of entries were received from a record number of exhibitors, coming from the Hunter Valley, wider NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

The winners were announced at an awards event held in December at Tintilla Estate, with Hunter Valley producers awarded six of the 11 trophies. Adina Vineyard and Olive Grove took home two of the major awards - Best Tapenade or Olive Spread of Show and Most Successful Exhibitor of Show - while the overall Best EVOO of Show award went to Victorian producer Myrtlevale Olives, and the trophy for Best EVOO of Show produced in the Hunter Valley was awarded to Shalumar.

Hunter producers also dominated the table olive competition, with both the Best Table Olive of Show and Best Table Olive from Hunter Valley Fruit trophies awarded to Twin Trees.

“A most challenging year”

Convenors Alan Smith and Steve Mitchell said the 2021 Show was a hard-earned success, entailing complicated logistics in “a most challenging year”.

“The day after announcing that the show would be held, Sydney went into lockdown. We had committed to the event so we soldiered on,” they said.

“Gradually COVID conditions eased in NSW, however we were forced to defer the judging day by six weeks. In the meantime all entries were stored at 16 degrees. A number of entries also got caught in Australia Post delivery delays, with one exhibitor sending a second set of entries, but all entries eventually did turn up.

“Then travel restrictions meant a number of our usual judges were unavailable. Fortunately Mike Thomsett, Dr Soumi Paul Mukhopadhyay and Abhijit Paul made themselves available at short notice and we were able to assemble strong, diverse judging panels.

“The COVID rules also complicated the judging process, necessitating the attendance of a COVID safety officer and separate table olive entry packs for each judge, among other considerations.

“But thanks to the professionalism of our judges and the outstanding efforts of our team of volunteers, judging day was a well organised, COVID-safe affair and a tribute to everyone involved.”

Judging comments

Olive Oil Head Judge Mike Thomsett described the 2021 entries as “an array of outstanding award-winning extra virgin and flavoured oils” which showcased the best of industry production.

“The extra virgin oils this year were fresh, full of lively floral, fruity and grassy aromas, with transfer to the palate of freshness delivering often complex varietal character,” he said.

“Flavoured oils that were able to marry the fresh underlying oil with a balanced flavour profile displayed creative and useful blends.

“Congratulations to all the award-winning producers who have been recognised for their outstanding effort in producing these beautiful oils. Well done!”

Table Olives Head Judge Steve Mitchell led the assessment of 17 entries across four classes.

“Four were awarded Gold medals and five received Silver medals, indicating an overall high standard of entries,” he said.

“Most exhibits were well presented, with

Elizabeth Williams of Milbrodale Farm was all smiles about the Bronze medal awarded to her Frantoio EVOO.

Proudly accepting the trophy for Most Successful Exhibitor of Show were Sue Turner, Steve Smith and Scott Clifford from Adina Vineyard and Olive Grove.

Arolyn Grove’s Sonya Seymour was thrilled to take home both a Silver medal and Best of Class award.

very few skin blemishes apart from some minor shrivelling in some large green olives. Olive flesh textures were very good across all classes: generally medium firm to firm, crisp and crunchy in the green olives. It is particularly pleasing to experience this in the black olives, which can often prove difficult to prevent over-softening during processing.

“Olive flavour and tastes were generally well balanced, though some green olives exhibited residual bitterness that indicated more time in the pickling barrel would have been worthwhile.

“In the tapenade class, the winning entry was a very good example of a traditional tapenade, with a good appearance and a nice flavour balance.”

Results catalogue

For more information and the full list of entry results, download the 2021 Hunter Valley Olive Show Results Catalogue from the Hunter Olive Association website - www. hunterolives.asn.au – under the Annual Olive Show dropdown. 2021 Hunter Olive Show Major Awards Hunter Bottling Company Trophy for Most Successful Exhibitor of Show: Adina Vineyard and Olive Grove (Hunter, NSW) Olives NSW Trophy for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Show: Myrtlevale Olives (VIC) Adina Vineyard and Olive Grove Trophy for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil of Show from Hunter Valley Fruit: Shalumar (Hunter, NSW) Ace Ohlsson Trophy for Best Infused Oil of Show: Fedra Olive Grove (NSW) Modern Olives Trophy for Best Table Olive of Show: Twin Trees (Hunter, NSW) Olive Centre Trophy for Best Table Olive from Hunter Valley Fruit: Twin Trees (Hunter, NSW) Olives NSW Trophy for Best Flavoured Table Olive: Olives from Broke (Hunter, NSW) Hunter Bottling Company Trophy for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Fruit from NSW excluding the Hunter Valley: Arkstone Olives (NSW) Olivegrower & Processor Trophy for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Tasmanian Fruit: Glendale Olives (TAS) Olivegrower & Processor Trophy for Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Victorian Fruit: Myrtlevale Olives (VIC) Plasdene Glass-Pak Trophy for Best Tapenade or Olive Spread of Show: Adina Vineyard and Olive Grove (Hunter, NSW)

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