Umbria’s Castello di Montalera Awarded for Organic PDO

Italian producer Castello di Montalera has won a Gold Award at the 2021 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

I feel blessed and grateful for receiving this important recognition. We work with passion to protect biodiversity, regenerate the soil and maintain the magnificent Italian agricultural landscape. I hope this prize will introduce us to international distributors and buyers who believe and support quality and Italian traditions as much as we do.

Marco Minciaroni, co-owner

In the 2020/21 crop year, the company produced 1,500 liters of organic extra virgin olive oil in Umbria from Frantoio, Leccino, Moraiolo and Dolce Agogia olives using traditional methods. Castello di Montalera earned the Gold Award for its Organic PDO Colli del Trasimeno, a medium blend.

"I feel blessed and grateful for receiving this important recognition," co-owner Marco Minciaroni said. "We work with passion to protect biodiversity, regenerate the soil and maintain the magnificent Italian agricultural landscape."

"I hope this prize will introduce us to international distributors and buyers who believe and support quality and Italian traditions as much as we do," he added.

For the producers behind Castello di Montalera, protecting biodiversity and promoting organic cultivation is the key to their success and the best way to ensure the future of the sector.

"Climate change has become an issue for most farmers," Minciaroni said. "We believe in promoting biodiversity to keep away unwanted pathogens and harmful insects, creating more competition between species."

"Regenerative organic and biodynamic techniques are useful to support our olive groves, increase the resilience of the soil and produce healthy food," he added.

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