The Serpa producer earned Golds for 4 C Koroneiki, 4 C Cobrançosa and 4 C Frantoio, continuing a strong competition record.
Olive Oil Times |
Serpa, Portugal — 4 C Azeites has been awarded three Gold Awards at the 2026 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition for 4 C Koroneiki, 4 C Cobrançosa and 4 C Frantoio.
"Three gold medals granted to Cobrançosa, Frantoio and Koroneiki, our complete portfolio of produced varieties is a lavish reward that fills with joy and pride all those who year after year have contributed with their knowledge and efforts to grow healthy olives and transform them into precious extra virgin olive oil. We feel both rewarded and encouraged to continue our search for our initial objective: to obtain the highest-quality oil from our olives.," said Francisco Borges Lopes, Owner and Manager at 4 C Azeites.
4 C Azeites earned a Gold for 4 C Koroneiki, a medium-intensity extra virgin olive oil produced exclusively from Koroneiki olives. The monovarietal is distinguished by herbaceous aromas and ripe notes, with fig leaf and green almond lending complexity to the oil’s profile.
The 2026 recognition also includes a Gold Award for 4 C Cobrançosa, a medium-intensity monovarietal made from Cobrançosa olives, and a Gold Award for 4 C Frantoio, a medium-intensity monovarietal produced from Frantoio olives. Together, the three awards underscore the producer’s focus on expressing varietal character through separate bottlings rather than blends.
4 C Azeites owns a 31-hectare intensive olive orchard in Serpa, in Baixo Alentejo, planted with Cobrançosa, Frantoio and Koroneiki. To support the production of monovarietal oils at small scale, 4 C Azeites installed a state-of-the-art mill at Monte Novo de Canivetes, enabling rapid processing and tight control over extraction parameters on the farm. 4 C Azeites sells a small volume of extra virgin olive oil under the 4 C name, a reference to “Courelas,” the Portuguese word for a small plot of land, as noted on the 4 C Azeites website.
In previous comments to Olive Oil Times, Francisco Lopes, owner of Azeite 4C, described how the Serpa groves are spread across four plots of land and rooted in an area associated with olive cultivation since Roman times, where cereal fields, pastures, vineyards and cork oak forests share clay-rich soils. Lopes also outlined the farm’s emphasis on established routines, including soil management, fertilization, pruning and mechanized harvesting, paired with careful timing to move healthy fruit quickly into processing.
The three Gold Awards add to 4 C Azeites’ NYIOOC record of five Golds and one Silver across six total awards. The producer previously earned one Gold and one Silver in 2025 and won one Gold in 2024.
The 2026 results also strengthened 4 C Azeites’ position in the Olive Oil Times World Ranking, where the producer is ranked #9 in Portugal, #67 in the Northern Hemisphere and #70 Worldwide.
The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, widely regarded as the world’s leading olive oil quality contest, is a trusted reference for consumers and industry professionals.