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<pre>The following is an extract from an article commenting on Australian
Olive Oils published by the Sydney Morning Herald "Good living" 3rd
December 2002

The Good Living panel tasted 21 oils with an organoleptic assessment of
olive oils used based on the format established and used by the IOOC.
The panel included Simon Johson who is a member of the IOOC accredited
Australian panel. Five of the oils were not included in the tasting
notes due to unacceptable defects which would indicate that producers
were not able to detect defects. The judges expressed some
disappointment at the overall quality and suggested that processing and
blending may need further work. The feeling was that there is a 'gold
rush' mentality operating and that well intentioned people are making
oils without knowledge of benchmark standards.


The following are not listed in order of preference however those marked
* had the judges highest rating;


Cobrahm Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil $16.95/375 mL
"fruity on the nose but not the palate. A little flat." "Low bitterness."

*Coriole First Oil 2002, Extra Virgin Olive Oil $17.50/250 mL
"balanced, fruity, very pungent and peppery, clean."

*Dandaragan Estate Chefs Choice Extra Virgin Olive Oil $99.00/4 litre
"herbaceous nose. Nice peppery after taste, nice pungency."

*Dandargan Estate Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil $24.95/500 mL
"fruity aroma, nice steady bitterness, buttery."

Dominics Extra Virgin Olive Oil Vat No 1 $19.95/375 mL
"too pungent and bitter, aggressive and peppery."

Gwydir Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil $16.95/500 mL
"grassy, lacks balance."

Hunter Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil $16.95/375 mL
"greasy and taste like its been cooked."

Joseph 2002 First Run Extra Virgin Olive Oil $38.25/750 mL
"no bitterness, no pungency."

Joseph 2002 Frantoia Extra Virgin Olive Oil $24.80/500 mL
"no bitterness, no pungency."

Maggie Beer Extra Virgin Olive Oil Vintage $25/250 mL
"astringent, too bitter." "bitter, not balanced."

Mount Zero Biodynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil $25/375 mL
"initial fruity smell but let down in taste."

*Mount Zero Muti-Varietal Extra Virgin Olive Oil $20/375 mL
"grassy, pleasantly buttery and good pungency."

Talinga Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil $26/375 mL
"lacks complexity and fruit freshness. OK but lacks excitement."

*Toscana Extra Virgin Premium Olive Oil $18.95/375 mL
"good bitterness and pungency, lifted and long."

Victoria Olive Grove Harvest Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil $12/250 mL
"nice grassy lemony nose but not clean length of flavour."

Victoria Olive Grove Black Harvest Manzanillo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
$12/250 mL
"odd nose like cooked vegetable, very bitter."

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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<pre>Roger, this is not like you! What did you think of the article???
Best wishes,
Margaret Chidgey
olivepress@...

-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Farquhar [mailto:rogfarlandsc@...]
Sent: Tuesday, 3 December 2002 10:14 AM
To: OliveOil@egroups.com
Subject: [OliveOil] aust oils tested



The following is an extract from an article commenting on Australian
Olive Oils published by the Sydney Morning Herald "Good living" 3rd
December 2002

The Good Living panel tasted 21 oils with an organoleptic assessment of
olive oils used based on the format established and used by the IOOC.
The panel included Simon Johson who is a member of the IOOC accredited
Australian panel. Five of the oils were not included in the tasting
notes due to unacceptable defects which would indicate that producers
were not able to detect defects. The judges expressed some
disappointment at the overall quality and suggested that processing and
blending may need further work. The feeling was that there is a 'gold
rush' mentality operating and that well intentioned people are making
oils without knowledge of benchmark standards.


The following are not listed in order of preference however those marked
* had the judges highest rating;


Cobrahm Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil $16.95/375 mL
"fruity on the nose but not the palate. A little flat." "Low bitterness."

*Coriole First Oil 2002, Extra Virgin Olive Oil $17.50/250 mL
"balanced, fruity, very pungent and peppery, clean."

*Dandaragan Estate Chefs Choice Extra Virgin Olive Oil $99.00/4 litre
"herbaceous nose. Nice peppery after taste, nice pungency."

*Dandargan Estate Ultra Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil $24.95/500 mL
"fruity aroma, nice steady bitterness, buttery."

Dominics Extra Virgin Olive Oil Vat No 1 $19.95/375 mL
"too pungent and bitter, aggressive and peppery."

Gwydir Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil $16.95/500 mL
"grassy, lacks balance."

Hunter Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil $16.95/375 mL
"greasy and taste like its been cooked."

Joseph 2002 First Run Extra Virgin Olive Oil $38.25/750 mL
"no bitterness, no pungency."

Joseph 2002 Frantoia Extra Virgin Olive Oil $24.80/500 mL
"no bitterness, no pungency."

Maggie Beer Extra Virgin Olive Oil Vintage $25/250 mL
"astringent, too bitter." "bitter, not balanced."

Mount Zero Biodynamic Extra Virgin Olive Oil $25/375 mL
"initial fruity smell but let down in taste."

*Mount Zero Muti-Varietal Extra Virgin Olive Oil $20/375 mL
"grassy, pleasantly buttery and good pungency."

Talinga Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil $26/375 mL
"lacks complexity and fruit freshness. OK but lacks excitement."

*Toscana Extra Virgin Premium Olive Oil $18.95/375 mL
"good bitterness and pungency, lifted and long."

Victoria Olive Grove Harvest Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil $12/250 mL
"nice grassy lemony nose but not clean length of flavour."

Victoria Olive Grove Black Harvest Manzanillo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
$12/250 mL
"odd nose like cooked vegetable, very bitter."

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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<pre>--- In OliveOil@y..., "Margaret Chidgey" <chidgey@o...> wrote:
> Roger, this is not like you!

heh.

> What did you think of the article???

well, theres a post or two over on the OlivesOrganic website forums
that venture into personal opinion on the article.

i encourage anyone who has an opinion to pop over there and tell us
their views, as that board is open to public debate on ALL issues,
without moderation and without censorship...

http://www.olivesorganic.com


best,
na
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<pre>g'day margaret

I see that you posted the article too!

The article certainly questions the judging process by the present AOA
tasting panel and the comparisons made between australian and european
oils need to be followed through in an objective manner if we are ever
to achieve the global aspirations of this industry.

Good Living have a circulation of 224,000 and a readership of 897,000
all of whom are presumably consumers. AOA membership is about 656 which
is down from last year and approximately 63% are growers.

I hope that this is taken as a wake up call not just another shot at the AOA.

cheers

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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