Istria declared world’s best olive oil region again by leading guide

Istria tops once again

15 October 2019 – The Croatian region of Istria has, for the fifth year in a row, been declared the best extra virgin olive oil region in the world by leading guide Flos Olei.  

Flos Olei, which is the first international extra virgin olive oil guide, have this year included 79 Croatian extra virgin olive oils in their latest 2020 guide. Out of the total number, 77 extra virgin olive oil producers from Istria were included. 

That number is the most out of all the regions featured in the Flos Olei 2020 guide. Close behind Istria were the regions of Andalusia in Spain, and Tuscany and Puglia in Italy. 

The guide, which comes in Italian and English editions, presents the best 500 extra virgin olive oils from 53 countries and is based on a panel of expert tasters.

This year, three Istrian extra virgin olive oils scored an impressive 98 points out of a maximum of 100. Those were Ipša, Mate and Oleum Viride (Olea B.B). 

There was more good news with Olea B. B. being named the best extra virgin olive oil farm of the year by Flos Olei.

(Photo: Oleum viride belić)

The detailed cartography includes both the best olive areas and the ones protected by names of origin. Istria, which had the highest number of extra virgin olive oils in the 2019 guide (79), is once again the region with the most in the guide and named the best extra virgin olive region.

You can check out the list of best 500 extra virgin olive oils, broken down by region, in the latest Flos Olei guide here.