The Deoleo facilities in Alcolea (Córdoba) hosted the organoleptic tasting panel to choose the winners of the 2nd International Olive Oil Competition ‘Soil O-Live: Soil Health and Quality’, the only international competition that links soil health with oil quality.
The jury was made up of four expert tasters: Marzia Migliorini, Sensory Laboratory Manager in Deoleo; Mª Carmen Serrano, head of La Oleoteca de Córdoba; José María Penco, director of AEMO; and Plácido Pascual, head of the virgin olive oil tasting panel at the Córdoba agri-food laboratory attached to the Agricultural and Fisheries Management Agency (AGAPA).
The competition, for which 16 samples have been submitted to the tasting phase, will reward the best olive oils from healthy soils, based on intensity attributes in three categories: light fruity, medium fruity and intense fruity. In turn, the Soil O-Live project will recognise the healthiest soil from among all the soil samples received. While the first edition was limited, as a pilot experience, to the farms participating in the project, this year it has been opened to all producers who have so wished.
The names of the winners will be announced in the coming weeks and the awards ceremony will take place during the International Conference on Sustainability in Olive Growing (ICSOC) to be held on 25 and 26 September 2025 in Úbeda.