Pico Verdelho: volcanic island wine

Pico Island, Azores, Portugal

The wine of Pico Island in the Azores — grown in a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape of black basalt lava fields (currais) where vines are protected from Atlantic winds by low stone walls built over centuries by hand. The grape is Verdelho, grown on volcanic basalt soils where roots penetrate deep into the rock seeking moisture — producing wines of extraordinary minerality, natural salinity, and fresh acidity. The currais (walled plots, each housing a single vine or a handful of vines) give Pico wine its unmistakable appearance from the air — a patchwork of black stone walls against the island's bright green grass, with the vines low to the ground between them. This is one of the most labour-intensive wine landscapes in the world.

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