Açores

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Soils of volcanic origin: basalts, trachytes, and andesites, shallow and highly stony.
• Archipelago located at the junction of the American, European, and African tectonic plates, of recent volcanic origin.
• Temperate maritime climate: 16–26 °C, relative humidity ~75%, rainfall >100 mm/month between October and March.
• The Atlantic wind, shaped by each island's orography, drove the construction of 'currais' — dry-stone walls built to protect the vines.
• The island setting and volcanic soils impart minerality and salinity as defining characteristics of the wines.

• Viticulture in the Açores dates back to the 15th century: Franciscan friars are believed to have introduced Verdelho from Italian varieties.
• The 'currais' — dry-stone walls sheltering the vines from Atlantic winds — earned the landscape UNESCO recognition as a 'Cultural Landscape of Humanity'.

• Sensory profile marked by freshness, salinity, and minerality, attributed to the volcanic soils and Atlantic influence.
• The high rainfall and humidity favour gentle ripening, generating notable acidity and freshness in the wines.

• Volcanic soils + Atlantic insularity → minerality and salinity in the wines of the IG Açores.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the the caderno de especificações.

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-PT-A1447
• Official trade body site — Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho dos Açores