Podere Il Montaleo Wins Gold Award for Tuscan Blend

Italian producer Podere Il Montaleo has won a Gold Award at the 2022 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

It’s a big source of pride for me and my company because we are constantly working to improve our products.

Cesare Diddi Mussi, owner

The Tuscan producer earned its third consecutive NYIOOC accolade for a medium blend of Moraiolo, Frantoio, Maurino, Leccino and Pendolino olives.

"I’m very honored to have won a Gold Award for the third time in such an important competition," owner Cesare Diddi Mussi said. "It’s a big source of pride for me and my company because we are constantly working to improve our products."

The producer partially attributed the company's success to the installation of a modern mill, bottling plant, storage facility, office and workshop in 2019. Podere Il Montaleo has also planted 30 hectares of new groves.

However, Diddi Mussi added that the increasingly hot and dry climate in Tuscany and the rest of the Mediterranean is making it harder to produce high-quality extra virgin olive oil each year.

"One of our biggest challenges during the harvest was the climate of the Mediterranean, which in the last years is more and more dry and arid," he said.

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, held each spring in New York, is the world's largest and most prestigious olive oil contest. 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 in the Official Guide to the World's Best Olive Oils.