The 2026/2027 guide "I migliori Oli d'Italia" (The Best Oils of Italy) awarded 156 extra virgin olive oils with the Three Leaves, the highest recognition awarded to extra virgin olive oils that have achieved the highest quality standards. In total, the Guide reviews 365 companies and 735 oils from across Italy and awards 15 Special Prizes to those that have distinguished themselves for quality, innovation, and local development.
The guide's presentation was a key moment of Rotte Mediterranee, the new event created by Gambero Rosso to mark the magazine's fortieth anniversary. This day dedicated to the contemporary Mediterranean as a meeting place for cultures, products, landscapes, and traditions, where extra virgin olive oil continues to be one of the most authentic expressions of Italy's agricultural and gastronomic heritage.
New this year is the guide, now available in digital format and accessible free of charge online after registration. It's designed to make discovering companies, oils, and regions even easier. Designed for industry professionals, buyers, restaurateurs, and passionate consumers, it's built through tastings and sensory evaluations that showcase the best of Italian olive growing.
"Extra virgin olive oil," says Lorenzo Ruggeri, director of Gambero Rosso, "is one of the Mediterranean's most profound stories. Landscape, biodiversity, agricultural labor, gastronomic culture, and local identity coexist within a single bottle. With this new edition, we continue our work of selecting and showcasing the companies that best embody these values."
The Special Awards
Company of the Year: Accademia Olearia, Alghero (SS), is a company that has been cultivating its own olives in the Alghero area of Sardinia for four generations. It is managed with dedication and passion by the Fois family, who directly oversees all stages of the production process, from olive cultivation to their transformation into high-quality extra virgin olive oil. It currently boasts approximately 250 hectares of olive groves with approximately 28.000 trees, primarily of the Bosana cultivar, supplemented by other native and national cultivars, with the aim of enhancing and enriching the organoleptic and qualitative characteristics of the oils produced.
Oil mill of the year: Le Tre Colonne, Giovinazzo (BA), managed by Maria, Salvatore, and Michele, with approximately 40 hectares of olive groves and 9.000 trees located in the Giovinazzo countryside, has been a leading company in the production, packaging, and marketing of Apulian extra virgin olive oils in Italy and internationally since 2008. With approximately 40 hectares of olive groves and 9.000 trees located in the Giovinazzo countryside, Le Tre Colonne boasts well-structured oils with bitter and spicy flavors that only the sun and proximity to the sea can provide. Our oils are characterized by several typical local varieties.
Olive Grower of the Year: Trebbio, Scarperia e San Piero (FI), a family project that has revitalized a historic estate in Mugello near Florence with an innovative olive grove, cultivated according to rigorous biodynamic principles. The restoration of the Medici villa and adjacent farmhouses is also part of the project, with the goal of cultivating a conscious and culturally driven hospitality while investing in the preservation of the estate's pristine land and biosphere.
Best organicFrantolio – Trisole Monocultivar Coratina Bio, Cisternino (BR)
Best blend: Ursini – Opera Mastra, Fossacesia (CH)
Best monocultivar: Oilivis – Futura Monocultivar Picholine, Carpino (FG)
Best light fruity: Bonamini – Monocultivar Grignano, Illasi (VR)
Best medium fruityViola – Monocultivar Frantoio Almanac, Foligno (PG)
Best intense fruity: Alfredo Cetrone – Dop Colline Pontine Monocultivar Itrana, Sonnino (LT)
New this year:
Three Stories of Oil Crossroads, Montalbano Jonico (MT)
Montalcino Oil Mill, Montalcino (SI) Best DOP Oil:
Viragì – Polifemo Dop Monti Iblei Gulfi Subzone Monocultivar Tonda Iblea, Chiaramonte Gulfi (RG)
