Olive oil in a major test: The winners of the Olio Award 2026
Top 3: Lightly fruity olive oils
Almond-sweet, berry-fruity and spicy – we especially like to drizzle these olive oils on fish.
Top 3: Medium-fruity olive oils
A delightful array of aromas – bitter and peppery like watercress. Medium-fruity olive oils are perfect with green vegetables, pasta, or beef!
2nd place: Ciccolella, Cagnara DOP, Italy, Puglia
And another laurel wreath for yet another magnificent oil from enormously expressive Coratina olives. Ciccolella's initially silky-sweet extra virgin "Cagnara" pulls out all the stops for an almost classic theme (plenty of almonds, green to ripe banana and apple, floral notes) with playful variations (radicchio, bitter almond, complex and persistent) and a skillfully nuanced finish (in addition to the beautiful, clear bitter notes, also a noticeable chili heat). Perfect when paired with pasta, fennel, and salsiccia (raw sausage).
3. Place: Marin Serrano El Lagar, Oleosubbética DOP, Spain, Andalusia
From 29th place last year, the leap to the OLIO Award: Congratulations, and very well deserved! Once again, the single-varietal Hojiblanca oil "Oleosubbética" delights with its balsamic, fresh, and fruity character. The aromatic profile of this almond-bitter and "officially" spicy (black pepper! green chili peppers!) oil ranges from green almonds and herbaceous greens to grassy notes, green apples, tomato leaves, olive fruit, and artichokes. We are delighted! Ideal with a hearty fabada asturiana (a stew of white beans, chorizo, and black pudding).
Top 3: Intensely fruity olive oils
The Tuscan therapy: cooking, eating, and enjoying. A breeze with our award-winning, top-of-the-line oils.
1. Place: Tenuta Gardini, Frantoio, Italy, Tuscany
The idea of Tuscany as a place of longing? It's good to know you can cure your wanderlust with an oil like this. The famous single-varietal "Frantoio" from Tenuta Gardini could hardly be more appealing: ethereally fresh grass, green almonds, artichokes and cardoons, lemon, thyme and oregano notes, and a wonderful, perfectly balanced finish of not-so-subtle almond bitterness and a distinct, long-lasting spiciness. The perfect winning oil for the only sensible Tuscan therapy: cooking, eating, and enjoying – like guinea fowl with vegetables or leg of lamb with herbs.
2. Place: Francesco Cillo, Mono Coratina, Italy, Apulia
Congratulations to Andrea Amadori for the top prize in the "intensely fruity" category, second place, and his second award for the "Coratina" stunner! This oil, sourced from the biodiversity-rich groves surrounding the medieval town of Cancellara, smells of green and ripe almonds, displaying a wonderfully rich, pronounced bitterness. The green notes are very distinct, and on the palate, alongside plenty of almond, basil, and apple emerge. The herbaceous, spicy, and slightly bitter finish is (thankfully!) delightfully piquant. Perfect with lamb skewers with beans and garlic!
3rd place: Paola Orsini, DOP Colline Pontine, Italy, Lazio
This single-varietal, invigoratingly bitter, and still moderately (an exceptionally lovely moderately) spicy "Itrana" smells of fresh grass and olive leaves, artichoke, and rosemary. This impression is repeated on the palate: more artichoke bitterness (becoming ever more beautiful and expressive!), more herbs, now also apple and a subtle spiciness – everything is there, everything is excellent: Bravo! Very nice with pollo en pepitoria (chicken cooked in its own juices, enriched with egg yolks and ground almonds).
