We were at an olive party near Duvnjak in Vodice

Olive Dalmatia in Vodice has never gathered more proudly, never more self-consciously, never happier.

To Duvnjaci in the oil mill “St. Ivan ”olive growers from all over Dalmatia came to the celebration, whose oils won gold and silver medals at the most prestigious and largest world olive oil competition in New York, who won so many medals that they launched Dalmatia as the biggest discovery of this year’s world olive oil championship. .

As the strongest olive-growing region, unknown to the world until then, the region in terms of medals won is stronger than our already celebrated Istria, about which the respectable New York ‘Olive Oil Times’ writes these days.

Olive laureates from Kornati to Oklaj, from Komarna near Ploče to Plastovo behind Šibenik, from Hvar to Šolta, from Dugi otok to the hinterland of Zadar and Šibenik, from Pirovac and Vodice to Marina and Rogoznica, went to the festival in Vodice, gotovo Almost everyone arrived whose Dalmatian olive oils won gold and silver in Manhattan at the New York Olive Oil Competition.

Those few who could not come, on the Whatsapp group were constantly sending messages of support.

AND SPIDER WON GOLD

Goran Pauk , now a former prefect, also won gold in New York with his oil and was the first to give his hands in co-financing the departure of Dalmatian olive growers to New York at the beginning of this beautiful story. Respecting new opportunities, he did not come to this festival, but  Iris Ukić Kotarac , the new deputy of the new prefect of Šibenik-Knin,  Marko Jelić,  promised in front of everyone to continue supporting this action and the olive growers.

Let us remind you: this year, for the first time, Dalmatia organized and in large numbers went to the world’s largest competition of olive oils. Istrians have been doing this for years, and with great success.

Until now, Dalmatian olive growers have very rarely sent their oils to world competitions and the consequence of that has been the rumor in Croatia that Dalmatian olive oils are not God knows what.

This was the case until last year, a young oilman and olive grower from Vodice,  Tomislav Duvnjak, lost his temper : he can’t do that.

So he called all Dalmatian olive growers who he was sure had excellent oils, he got involved in collecting samples, he encouraged the now former prefect of Šibenik-Knin Goran Pauk to co-finance the sending of samples to New York, and he other parishioners to do it to their olive growers and – here. Hit!

Thanks to Dalmatian oils, along with Istrian, which, it must be said, recorded excellent success this year as well (but weaker than Dalmatian), Croatia placed 4th at this year’s NYIOOC World Olive Oil Championship, just behind the world olive powers Italy, Spain and Greece.

LEFT FRANCE, TUNISIA, PORTUGAL BEHIND

While these three countries cover almost the entire world production of olive oil and their placement in the first three places in terms of awards is logical, the small country of Croatia makes up only 0.15 percent of world production of olive oil. But such an  excellent  oil that it left behind them large olive countries: France, Tunisia, Portugal, Turkey, Morocco…

And at the festival in the oil mill “St. Ivan ”in Vodice, there were so many good vibes, positive energy, enthusiasm for mutual success and a new Dalmatian community that I have never seen in my long journalistic career.

Dr. Ivica Vlatković , a well-known olive grower, a columnist for our magazine “Maslina”, a team from Šolta led by the Burić couple  , Tomislav Duvnjak, a team of pioneers who had previously won top  awards in New York on behalf of Dalmatia  , radiated with the new laureates. What they had dreamed of for years happened.

There were also famous oilmen, gold winners in NY Drago Laća from Skradin, Iva Miljak from the oil mill “Bilaja” from Marina and Željko Vrsaljko from Nadin, Damir Buntić cooked pasta for everyone with several types of mushrooms that he picks himself, Toma’s wife Helena and father Ante kept the situation under control in the kitchen, there was prosciutto, cheese, kulen, fritula,…

Šolta Mayor Nikola Karuzić-Cecić also joined the new mayor of Vodice, Captain Ante Cukro,olive grower Ante Karaga from Promina, gold in New York, told us about his olives under the Dinara, the northernmost in Dalmatia,…

The top  olive growers from Zadar and Šibenik were also smiling, including Marin Matešić, Bore Pedić, Tonči Mrša, Stojko and Božo Surać, Davor Antica, Duška Kolar, Milivoj Trcera, Jakov Rinčić from Vrsin near Marina.

AND THE WINEMAKERS HAVE ARRIVED

Among the happiest were olive growers from Pirovac  Krešimir Uroda  and  Karlo Lazar :

“We won the first medals for Pirovac in New York, gold and silver!”

At the same table sat representatives of the restaurant “Fešta” from Žuta, who won gold for their oil from the Kornati, and the wider Makjanić family of   excellent olive growers from Dol on Hvar, and it is impossible to list all who arrived in Vodice.

There were also good local letters, the klapa dressed in Šibenik took care of that, and the top wines were brought by winemakers who won silver and gold with their oils in the Big Apple.

Namely, three famous Dalmatian winemakers have proven themselves at this great competition as excellent olive growers. Gold and silver went to the olive oils of winemaker  Damir Štimac  from the winery “Rizman” from Komarna,  Ante  Sladić from Plastovo and  Nikola Birin  from Vodice. So “streams” of beautiful maraschinos and debuts flowed, and for the end the best Rizman’s wine, the mighty Plavac Primus.

I GIVE A PUBLIC PROMISE

Višnja Marasović , County Head for Agriculture and Rural Development of Šibenik-Knin County, much like Tomislav Duvnjak responsible for this historical unification of Dalmatia, enjoyed the atmosphere and socializing, and Iris Ukić Kotarac, Deputy Prefect Marko Jelić, fit in well.

“I congratulate and I am delighted with the fact that the Dalmatian olive growers first of all connected and that they had the strength to be brave and that is why the new county government cannot but support them even more.

I give a public promise that the investment will continue, that we will continue with this initiative for the benefit of our entire Šibenik-Knin County and for the benefit of the entire region of Dalmatia.

We are going even stronger and we will need the help of all of you with your knowledge and experience. All of us in Dalmatia are working to keep the world here, to keep production and to brand ourselves as a county and a region “, said Deputy Mayor Iris Ukić Kotarac.

Ante Cukrov, the new mayor of Vodice, the captain, but also the olive grower himself, continued: “These young people are my hopes, I enjoy watching them, we will do everything to help them, to encourage them even more. I will be 120 percent supportive of our olive growers. ”

“This success is our common and I congratulate you all from the bottom of my heart, this is the beginning of the historical unification of olive oil in Dalmatia. The ultimate goal is to bring Dalmatia to the level of the best olive growing region in the world, and then, together with our Istria, to make Croatia a brand “, said Tomislav Duvnjak to those gathered, with general approval.

In the end, all the Dalmatian “conquerors of New York” gathered for a joint photo. And then Tomo suddenly unfurled the banner “Livaja ostani”, and all his hands flew into the air. Nothing without Hajduk! When Dalmatia unites (which is neither often nor easily) only the sky is its limit. And it rolled…

And where are the Dalmatian counties?

While Dalmatian olive growers have proven themselves at the top of the world, Dalmatian structures have not even noticed it! Namely, as soon as the results of New York came out, on the same day, around noon, the Tourist Board of the Istrian County sent a press release to all media in which it was written about “again the great success of Istrian oils in New York”.

And all credit to the Istrian County Tourist Board, it did its job promptly and excellently.

The success of Dalmatian oils is even greater, Dalmatia has four counties, but none of the tourist boards of any of the four Dalmatian counties to date, or almost ten days later, has not reported to any media or sent a statement about the success of its olive growers.

And that’s right the difference between Istria and Dalmatia, in terms of ability and reaction of “structures”, Dalmatia is not even close to Istria yet.

Croatia fourth in the world

This year, 1,171 extra virgin olive oil from 28 countries competed in New York. 105 oils arrived from Croatia for the competition, of which 53 from Dalmatia and 52 from Istria.

Croatia won a total of 87 medals, of which 67 gold and 20 silver. According to the number of medals won, it is the fourth country on the globe.

More than half of the total number of Croatian awards 48 (35 gold and 13 silver) were won by Dalmatian olive growers. Istrian olive growers won 39 awards (of which 32 gold and seven silver).

*Source: https://slobodnadalmacija.hr/mozaik/hrana/bili-smo-na-maslinarskom-tulumu-kod-duvnjaka-u-vodicama-imali-su-sto-i-slaviti-postali-su-svjetska-senzacija-u-new-yorku-nisu-zaboravili-na-marka-livaju-izletio-je-transparent-1104483