Slideshow

Pause - Slideshow button

Fruity, a Little Bitter and Spicy By Simon Field

Simon Field is the founder of International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes and an olive producer and trader.


Express your interest in getting involved

Express your interest in getting involved in Savantes planned activities in 2023 and beyond!


16 and 17 March 2023
Melbourne, Australia

Excellent Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Valuable Knowledge and Good Company makes Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes Much More than Tasting 

  • Provides opportunities to improve personal tasting knowledge and confidence
  • Through its tasting skills review recognises and rewards competency
  • Is unaligned and independent.
  • Is an international movement connecting people in many countries; and
  • It fosters respect for the products of all producing countries

Savantes Review and Recognition

Introducing a day of skills review exercises and giving recognition as Associate Savante or Savante if you achieve the prescribed scores.

  • Open to anyone who wants to review their tasting ability on a worldwide scale.

Modena, Italy – Seville, Toledo, Madrid, Priego de CordobaSpain – London, United Kingdom – New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, USA – Sydney, Melbourne, Australia – Auckland, New Zealand – Cape Town, South Africa – Dublin, Ireland – Amsterdam, Netherlands - Kalamata, Greece - Provence, France

The Savantes Rubric

(Rubric - a printed set of criteria for assessing knowledge, performance or product and for giving feedback).

An important element of the programs is to review and recognise the tasting skill of participants. As the Savantes rubric describing flavour and scoring those undertaking the review is consistent around the world at all events, the recognition of skill gives an international comparison. The two levels of recognition and Certification are Associate Savante and Membership of the Register of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Savantes with full Savante status. Currently there are 7 Savantes – 2 from Spain, 2 from USA and 1 each from Greece, France and South Africa.  There are 86 Associates of which 16 are silver, 9 Gold and 2 platinum from Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Spain, USA, France, South Africa, Greece, Canada, Ireland, Jordan

In 2017 over 200 tasters undertook the Savantes Review with 23% achieving Associate Savante and 2% achieving Savante status.

Savantes is Worldwide

Savantes has grown into a worldwide movement presenting intensive extra virgin olive oil tasting programs, valuable marketing information and co-organising conferences and team tasting championships. These programs have been, and continue to be, presented annually in Australia, USA, Spain and Italy. Occasionally, when demand warrants it, the program is also presented in New Zealand, South Africa, England, Ireland and Netherlands. Some of the compelling reasons to be involved in the Savantes program are that Savantes:

  • Provides opportunities to improve personal tasting knowledge and confidence
  • Through its tasting skills review recognises and rewards competency
  • Is unaligned and independent.
  • Is an international movement connecting people in many countries; and
  • It fosters respect for the products of all producing countries

Savantes does not accept sponsorship or any other inducement from third parties, commercial or institutional. The olive oils used in all programs are selected on merit, including flavour and service, from all the producing regions around the world.

The Extra Virgin Olive Oils you will taste

The olive oils provided for tasting include extra virgin olive oils which are ranked amongst the best in the world. The ranking is calculated each year from awards won in the most rigorous competitions worldwide.

Extra virgin olive oils from many regions are available for tasting with special emphasis on regional varietals. The oils are provided ‘pro bono publico’ by producers in support of the ethos of Savantes.

Producers and suppliers of the extra virgin olive oils are sent detailed tasting notes after each program. Attendees are given a list of the oils tasted and contact details of the suppliers.

Certification and Register of International Savantes

Savantes believes that the future and integrity of the olive oil industry will be boosted by recognition of tasting talent. Recognition should be accessible to everyone involved in the production, distribution and retailing of extra virgin olive oil, not only those who are able to become members of established institutional tasting panels.

Savantes recognition of tasting capability has already benefitted many participants through better product quality control, career advancement, inclusion on tasting panels, and more sales.

Savantes believes that attending a course is one step towards acquiring expertise and that true expertise must be demonstrated by achieving prescribed scores in a series of skills tests such as the Savantes Rubric.

Savantes Review and Recognition

Recognising that there are many competent tasters who do not see the need to participate in further basic training programs, Savantes has introduced the Savantes ‘Review and Recognition’ sessions. These will normally follow a training program at a location and comprise a day during which there will be up to four sessions of the Savantes Review tests. Attendees will be able to undertake the tests, be given their results in confidence, and recognised as Associate Savantes or Savantes if they achieve the prescribed scores.

Savantes ‘Frequent Tasters’

To recognize Associate Savantes who successfully complete the Savantes Review multiple times in 2019 we introduced additional retrospective recognition. Those registered in the programme who successfully complete the review twice will be awarded Silver Associate, three times Gold Associate and four times Platinum Associate. To date we have a number of Gold Associates proving a consistently high standard of tasting ability.

Certificate of Attendance

All participants in the full Savantes program receive a Certificate of Attendance at the conclusion of the last session.

External Recognition

The success of the Savantes initiative has been recognised internationally by important organisations. QvExtra!, the leading Spanish producer association, has conferred the honour of ‘socio colaborador’, or cooperating partner and Lux Magazine Food and Drink Awards in the United Kingdom has awarded Savantes with ‘Olive Oil Experts of the Year – Australia’.

More recently Savantes was invited to make a special presentation at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles to mark the 150th anniversary of Filippo Berio. Savantes founder and presenter, Simon Field, presented a tasting of Mario Solinas Award winners at a European Union Delegation to the USA roundtable and tasting ‘Ensuring EU Olive Oil Quality’ on Capitol Hill in Washington for Congressional aides and trade emissaries.