2013 Awards Old French Road (previously La Casa Toscana) was judged Best in Class for their Blend, with Silver for Manzanillo and Kalamata, keeping up the tradition. The oils from Banks Peninsula are recognised in NZ for being very special. Old French Road is an Olive Grove set on a 20 acre north facing site. The grove was first planted in 2000 and started producing olive oil around 2005. The unique climate and soils produce very high quality, wonderfully flavoured oils. There are a number of different varieties growing and these all produce different flavours of oil from fruity to intensely peppery and many flavours in between. We attend the local Akaroa farmers market on Saturday mornings between October and Easter where the oil can be sampled and explained. These oils have won Best in Show, Best in Class and Gold awards in the NZ Olives competition so are highly thought of by those qualified to judge oil flavours.