The California State Fair is proud to announce the Head Judge for the 2020 competition, Sue Langstaff, the Principal of Applied Sensory LLC, a consulting company specializing in providing independent sensory evaluation services to the wine, beer and olive oil industries. Langstaff will employ her expertise and experience at the California State Fair Olive Oil Judging to lead a team of 15 Judges and ensure a fair and ethical judging process.
Langstaff brings with her some serious credentials. She leads a commercial olive oil taste panel which is recognized by the American Oil Chemists' Society and is an instructor for the Sensory Evaluation of Olive Oil Certificate Course conducted through the U.C. Davis Olive Center. She has a M.S. from U.C. Davis where she studied Sensory Science, Enology and Brewing.
Sue has been a professional judge at the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition and other California competitions. She has also been the head judge at several international olive oil competitions: in 2013 for the New Zealand Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards and in 2017 and 2018 for the South African Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition.
Sue is co-editor of the book Olive Oil Sensory Science (Wiley/ Blackwell, 2014) and is the creator of The Defects Wheel® for Olive Oil, Beer and Wine. Sue was profiled in the bestseller Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal (W. W. Norton and Co., 2013) by Mary Roach.
Visit www.CAStateFair.org for more information and to enter online. The deadline for online entry for the 2020 California State Fair Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition is February 14, 2020. Chemical lab analysis results and oil samples are due at Cal Expo offices on February 21, 2020.
About the California State Fair
Cal Expo is home of the California State Fair, an international award-winning fair, receiving top honors at the International Association of Fairs and Expositions out of more than 1,100 fairs world-wide. Originally established in 1854, the California State Fair is dedicated as a place to celebrate the best the state has to offer in agriculture, technology and the diversity of its people, traditions and trends that shape the Golden State's future. Join us for the 2020 California State Fair, July 17 - August 2.
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