Adrift in the North Atlantic, roughly 1,000 miles from the nearest mainland, sits the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Unless you have some Portuguese ancestry these islands remain a mystery to most Americans. Yet, the... Read More

Adrift in the North Atlantic, roughly 1,000 miles from the nearest mainland, sits the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. Unless you have some Portuguese ancestry these islands remain a mystery to most Americans. Yet, the Azores played a significant role in the birth of our country. During the colonial period there were small communities of Portuguese in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Later, large numbers of Portuguese, mainly Azorean, established thriving fishing communities along the Eastern Seaboard. But fishing prowess was not all these Portuguese immigrants brought with them.

Wine was and continues to be an important part of Azorean communities. Franciscan friars were the first to plant grapevines in the Azores soon after their discovery in the 15th century. However, after the devastation of phylloxera, winemaking was almost entirely wiped out. A few vineyards were replanted for personal consumption but it wasn't until the Azores Wine Company was founded that the rest of the world would be able to get a taste of the fantastic wine these islands are capable of producing.

Much like the Hawaiian Islands or the Canary Islands archipelagos, the Azores are a chain of volcanic islands formed by a sub-oceanic rift of tectonic plates. While the group of islands has a geology similar to that of Santorini, with soils comprised entirely of black basalt, the fact that the Azores are in the middle of the North Atlantic make for much different climatic conditions.

Winds howl across the island at speeds that can easily destroy vines, so the farmers build low stone walls called currais that break the frequent gusts. A similar technique is used in the Canary Island of Lanzarote, though the soil is notably more fertile there. Here, soil must be transported from more fertile islands in the chain for viticulture to take root.

The philosophy of the Azores Wine Company’s winemakers is simple: plant and source heritage varieties farmed in traditional ways and vinify the wines as simply as possible. On the Azorean island of Pico that means farming vines sometimes less than 150 ft from the ocean. This unusual distance to the sea sprays the vines with salt. The sea also works its way from underneath, blending with rainwater to form a brackish mix for the roots to absorb. The proximity to the ocean and saline quality of the resulting wines lead the locals to proclaim that a good Azorean vineyard is one where you can hear the crabs singing. Needless to say, these wine pair great with some of those aforementioned crustacean crooners.