Remote, secret and bang in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean, the Azores islands are perhaps an unexpected place to find fine wines. But they’re here, and they’re marvellous.
Lying around 1000 miles west of Portugal, each of the nine Azorean islands is unique: Corvo, Flores, Faial, Graciosa, Pico, São Jorge, Terceira, Santa Maria and São Miguel. Three of the islands – Pico, Graciosa and Terceira – still grow grapes and make wine, and these days they’re making more than fortified wine here. Table wines are the name of the game and wine lovers are having a whale of a time discovering them.
Atlantic wines from the Azores
First colonised in the 1400s, it didn’t take the Franciscan monks who came to the islands long to decide to plant grapes. They quickly noticed how similar the soil and climate was to Sicily, planting the area’s typical Verdelho vines and celebrating as the plants took off, grew, and thrived.
The monks’ lovely wines quickly gained an excellent reputation amongst Europe’s wine lovers, exported as far as northern Europe and into Russia, the Russian royalty being particularly fond of Pico’s wines. It’s no surprise that, after the 1917 revolution, bottles of Pico Verdelho wine were found in the palace cellars.
Once upon a time the grapevines clambered over all nine Azorean islands. But eventually a series of vine diseases put paid to the grapes on every island except the central group of Pico, Terceira, and Graciosa, the only ones still growing grapes and those that give the area its name: the Wine Region of Azores.
2004 saw a new wine certification introduced: VR or ‘Vinho Regional’. It covers every red and white wine made on the islands, denotes a high level of quality, and has inspired more local wine producers to make table wines.
The deep connection between volcanoes and Azores wines
At the end of the day it’s all about the volcanic activity. Because it straddles the place where three vast tectonic plates meet, the entire region is highly volcanically active. The islands themselves grew as vast volcanoes burst up from the ocean floor. And that means the earth is usually wonderfully fertile once the rock has broken down into soil, making it ideal for grapevines.
Azores wines
Most of the vineyards on Pico and the other two wine growing islands are protected from the Atlantic wind and cold by small walled plots called curraletas, a unique way to grow the vines.
Pico’s soil is the best of all, made from basalt rock and clay and creating gorgeous wines whose acidity and freshness make them unique. The Azores’ temperate climate makes the conditions even better for vines, surrounded by the mild Atlantic which averages 13C in winter and 24C in summer. It rains a lot and the air feels very humid, giving grapevines even more of the conditions they love.
The soil on Pico, which is known for its rich, full-bodied fortified wines, differs from the other islands because of the black basalt rock from Pico Mountain, which weathers down into soil that’s relatively low in nutrients. It also comes with lower grape yields compared to the fertile soil on other islands so they tend to import good soil from Faial island nearby, and because it’s hard to grow anything other than vines there’s a lot of wine produced there. We’re talking around 1 million litres a year from Pico alone, most of which stays on the island for home and tourist consumption.
Graciosa is loved for both its fortified wines and unusually light, fresh, dry and fruity white wines. And like Pico wines, the Terceira island versions tend to be mostly white. They’re loved for their full bodied nature and spicy flavours. Called biscoitos wines because of the soil’s deep, dark brown colour, the flavours are unmistakeable.
Pico and Biscoitos wines are made from traditional Verdelho and rugged Arinto dos Açores grapevines, along with a local grape variety called Terrantez do Pico. On Graciosa the Verdelho grape is a winner, along with Arinto dos Açores, Terrantez do Pico, Boal and Fernão Pires vines. They’re all brilliant for white wine but the level of sunlight in the Azores isn’t quite good enough to grow sun-hungry red grapes. There are red wines to be had, but they’re rarer.
3 Azores wine tours to fall in love with
Try a Wine Tasting Tour on Pico, visiting the Criação Velha vineyards and wine laboratory followed by a trip to São Roque’s old wine production sites, ending up with a wine cellar tour and tasting session. The Wines and Moonshines of Terceira are also on the Azores tours menu, your chance to see the island as a whole, discover some of its hidden secrets, and taste the wines and moonshines together with a beautiful BBQ feast. Or take a Volcanic Wine Tasting Party tour with a family of local people who know their stuff, complete with delicious local food and warm-hearted company.
Some of the best Azores wines
There’s a great choice of different Azorian wines, including the excellent Terrantez do Pico and Arinto Sur Lies, Rosé Vulcânico and Verdelho O Original, all available from the Azores Wine Company. You’ll also enjoy test driving these:
- Muros de Magma
- Curral Atlantis
- Pedras Brancas
- Cacarita
- Vinho Donatário
- Frei Gigante
- Jardinete Chardonnay
- Cancela do Porco
Pay an average of £175 for a bottle of exceptional Czar de Jose Duarte Garcia, grown and made on Pico. Dial the cost back down to £21 a bottle for a tasty Azores Wine Company Arinto dos Acores. Love a bottle of Vinha Centenaria Branco or Terroir Vulcanico Branco, some Isabella a Proibida or Terrantez do Pico, Tinto Vulcanico or Terroir Vulcanico Arinto. There’s something for every budget.
Typical Azores cuisine to treat your taste buds
Azorean cuisine is hearty, simple, and utterly delicious. Think seafood, spicy stews, flavoursome meats, tooth-killer desserts, and rich creamy dairy products, then add a pinch of something a bit different and you’ll soon see how the food here differs from Portugal itself.
Azorean food is more rustic than Portuguese. The milk is incredible, taken from cows that get fat on the green, green grass growing on the islands’ beautiful fertile soils. There are numerous fragrant pork dishes to sample, the most popular meat on the islands. Local yogurt and a slice of fresh spread with island butter goes perfectly with a strong coffee served with full-fat milk to make a fabulous breakfast.
Fish is the dish of the day every day, with cod a big favourite and octopus, limpets and lamprey a close second. You could spend a month here and still not try all the different cod dishes. Then there’s the bread. The sweet bread called Massa Sovada plays a vital part in Easter and Xmas festivities on the islands, and the deep friend dough balls called Malasadas are made even tastier with a coating of crisp sugar.
Sao Miguel island is home to the famous cozida, a classic one-pot stew traditionally cooked naturally by the earth, placed in a hole in the ground near a superheated volcanic geyser at Furnas. Alcatra takes meat to an entirely different level with its simple pot roasted, slow-cooked method of making melt-in-the-mouth pork or beef. Baked with locally grown tomatoes, onions, garlic, and cloves for flavour, it’s packed with big, generous flavours.
As far as sweets go, you really can’t beat a pineapple harvested fresh from the plant, incredibly sugary, acidic and juicy. Other than that the islands’ desserts are typically extremely sweet and rich.
Ready to tour the Azores wine islands?
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