Adega dos Biscoitos

On the Azores island of Terceira, winemakers Anselmo Mendes and Diogo Lopes make wine at the local cooperative facilities. Adega Cooperativa dos Biscoitos, aims to preserve the winemaking traditions of the Azores region. The co-op was established in 1999 to protect, promote, and market the genuine Vinho Verdelho dos Biscoitos. The vines benefit from the volcanic soil and the Atlantic Ocean’s influence, resulting in wines with distinctive character, complexity and salinity. 

Magma wine is exclusively made with the ancient Verdelho variety, and the vines are planted in Curraletas, which are part of the cultural heritage of Terceira Island, protecting them from strong Atlantic winds. The Curraletas are built stone by stone with basaltic rocks once produced by cooling magma, and vines grow on the rocky substrate. Each Curraletas is home to just 4, 6 or 8 vines, according to size. Slow and dedicated labour is carried out by the most experienced hands. Other crops were trialled here in history, but farmers went to look for more fertile land and the Biscoitos eventually were exclusively destined for winemaking. This rugged and inhospitable soil, entrapped within a 2 km strip, between what is now a road and the ocean, became the Protected Designation of Origin of the Biscoitos. The production area is part of the Terceira Nature Park and the Biscoitos-Matias Simao geosite of Azores UNESCO Global Geopark. 

The PDO still holds, but this is an endangered wine. The hard, even heroic viticulture, subject to Atlantic storms, demands constant intervention. The vine either has to be lowered in order to be protected from the strong sea wind and salt by the surrounding walls or raised with the tinchoes stakes that keep grape bunches away from the rocks that heat up during the Summer. Such obstacles and meagre production capacity have led to a progressive abandonment of the Biscoitos vineyards. Out of the 20 hectares comprising this region, only nine are currently being used. And out of those nine, only four produce Verdelho, the variety that best expresses the Atlantic and saline character of Azorean wines.