Nowhere is quite like the Azores. Its UNESCO world heritage listed vines are planted next to a volcano in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. But for over a hundred years its wine industry had largely been forgotten, never having properly recovered from phylloxera and mildew outbreaks in the 1850s.
The extraordinary Azores Wine Company was set up in 2014 by charismatic rugby-playing, surfing winemaker António Maçanita with just 12 hectares of vines, some 100-years-old. These native Arinto dos Açores vines are planted (1984-2004) so close to the sea, they need special walls called currais to protect from the spray and fierce Atlantic winds. Only 1,600 bottles made, it's fresh, pure and very mineral, some grapefruit and a saline, savoury finish. Several months on the lees gives an added richness and awesome energy. A remarkable achievement from what can be described no less as a revolutionary movement, returning an utterly unique wine region to former splendour.
94 points - Sarah Ahmed - Decanter (July 2017)

 

Pico | Açores | PORTUGAL

Arinto dos Açores