Pico Island Volcanic Vineyards

Pico Island Volcanic Vineyards

In 1450, Frei Gigante carried Verdelho rootstocks to Pico from mainland Portugal. For four centuries the wine fueled the Russian Tsar's court and sat in Thomas Jefferson's cellar. Then oidium hit in 1852, phylloxera in 1872, and a century of silence followed. In 2010, António Maçanita showed up with a 50-square-metre winery and a wooden press to resurrect a dead grape variety. His Azores Wine Company now makes wine from vines growing on raw basalt at the foot of Portugal's highest mountain — 2,351 metres of volcano reflected in every glass.