Marija Čurin Awarded for Organic Levantinka

Croatian producer Eva Marija Čurin has won her fourth-consecutive award at the 2023 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

In relation to the situation in which we found ourselves, we could expect everything and nothing. But we did win, and at that moment, we forgot all the pain and the problems that we had during caring about olive trees to survive hard periods.

Eva Marija Čurin, owner

The producer from Hvar, an island in the Adriatic Sea, earned a Gold Award for her organic medium Levantinka. She previously earned Gold Awards at the competition from 2020 to 2022.

"In relation to the situation in which we found ourselves, we could expect everything and nothing," Eva Marija Čurin said. "But we did win, and at that moment, we forgot all the pain and the problems that we had during caring about olive trees to survive hard periods. "

In the 2022/23 crop year, she produced 1,800 liters of extra virgin olive oil using traditional methods but faced plenty of challenges along the way.

"This year was very challenging," Marija Čurin said. "We produce olive oil on the part of Hvar where we do not have water, and we depend on the rain."

"Dry periods started already during the winter, and we had to fight to save every olive really hard," she added. "In relation to the situation in which we found ourselves, our harvest was incredible, more than we could even imagine."

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition held each spring in New York, is the world's 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.