Arribas do Douro Awarded for Portuguese Blend

Arribas do Douro from Portugal has won a Silver Award at the 2020 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, the world's most prestigious olive oil quality contest.

It's been a rough year. The team needs to care for the trees every day in order to have one of the best olive oils in the world. We are excited about this.

Miguel Massa, Miguel Massa production director

The company produces extra virgin olive oil in Trás-os-Montes (Portugal) from Cobrancosa, Madural, Negrinha de Freixo, Verdeal Transmontana olives using traditional methods.

The 2019/2020 season was marked by significant challenges, the company's Production Director said after receiving news of the award.

"Manual harvesting is getting more difficult in our region every year with the migration of people to the big cities," said Miguel Massa, the company's production director. "We're doing huge efforts to preserve nature agriculture despite mechanical agriculture but it is getting harder every year. Last year was a dry year and despite the loss of production we have managed to achieve beautiful olive oils."

The producer won a Silver Award for its Arribas do Douro, a medium-intensity blend.

"It's been a rough year," Massa admitted. "Harvesting is always a difficult time if you want to do things right. However, the work is done throughout the year, and not only these two months in which we transform olives into olive oil. The team needs to care for the trees every day in order to have one of the best olive oils in the world. We are excited about this.

The NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition, held each spring in New York, is the world's largest and most prestigious olive oil contest and its annual listing of award winners is considered the authoritative guide to the year’s best extra virgin olive oils.

The complete list of winners can be viewed on the Official Index of the World's Best Olive Oils