Trust and Evidence

To help consumers make safe purchasing decisions, Extra Virgin Vault exposes two independent facts:

1. The strongest evidence recorded for an oil's latest release; and
2. Whether the producer has indicated the information on our site is accurate.

Strong release-evidence badge does not hide a producer-response warning. These badges describe the evidence available to us and don't guarantee authenticity, quality or future performance.

Release evidence badges

Chemistry Reviewed

A release-associated lab result has been reviewed by Extra Virgin Vault. This is stronger than producer-published figures or a competition's general eligibility requirement. It applies only to the oil and release associated with the document.

Competition Qualified

A source-matched Class A quality award is recorded for the release. The competition's reviewed rules require documented sensory assessment, release traceability and mandatory chemistry qualification. This means the entry passed that competition's process but it does not mean Extra Virgin Vault has seen the laboratory report or verified any numerical chemistry values shown on this site.

Award Recognised

A source-matched Class B quality award is recorded for the release. The award provides official sensory evidence and some release traceability but there is no mandatory chemistry qualification for this award.

Results Published

Chemistry figures have been published for the release. Extra Virgin Vault has not reviewed the supporting laboratory results/documents, so published figures are not treated as independently verified.

Listing Researched

The listing was researched and the producer has confirmed its details or supplied an accepted correction. No stronger qualifying evidence about the release is recorded.

New Listing

No qualifying release-specific evidence or producer confirmation recorded. Despite our best attempts at confirming this oil, this does not indicate poor quality or suggest that the oil is illegitimate.

Producer responsiveness

Producer responsiveness is calculated separately from release evidence:

• Details Confirmed: The producer or an authorised representative provided a substantive response that confirmed the listing or supplied accepted corrections.
• Awaiting Response: We made a contact attempt less than 14 days ago and no substantive response has been received.
• Research Pending: No confirmation has been received following a contact attempt 14 days ago.
• Not Contacted: Contact has not been attempted yet by Extra Virgin Vault.

Research Pending

How competition evidence affects scores

• Source-matched quality awards from known competitions contribute their broad Bronze, Silver, or Gold-or-higher tier to quality scores. Multiple awards from one competition on one release count once at the highest tier.
• Approved Class A and B results carry more weight than editions whose rules are still pending review. Missing awards receive a neutral estimate; an unrecorded result is not treated as a loss.
• Competition-specific numeric scores remain visible with the raw award but are not compared across competitions in the quality score.
• The award outlook on a predicted release appears only when this same oil has results from that competition in at least two release years. It describes a tier conditional on another recorded result, not the probability of winning.
• Competition evidence is never used to verify unseen chemistry values.

How the catalog is ordered

The default Trending order blends current freshness (30%), reported availability (5%), expected quality (40%), and trust in the recorded evidence (25%). Freshness uses the available harvest timing, with less influence when only an approximate date or harvest year is known. Quality uses chemistry, sensory information and the oil's award history; missing measurements and missing awards start from neutral values rather than being scored as poor results. Dates, varieties, producer notes and contact details affect evidence trust, not oil quality.

Our process

• Evidence cannot be bought: Badges are assigned from the evidence available to us.
• Rules are versioned: Competition assurance is reviewed by competition year and does not silently inherit the latest rules.
• Best-effort research: we make reasonable steps to confirm information but make no warranties about accuracy.
• Corrections and appeals: Producers can contact us to provide supporting evidence or request a correction.

Questions about a specific listing or evidence decision can be sent via our contact page.