Pico Vineyards (Currais)
A UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape — a strip of vineyard on Pico's lava-rock coast, where vines are grown in tiny walled basalt pens (currais) that protect them from wind and salt. A landscape to visit, not just taste.
One of the most singular vineyard landscapes in Europe — a wine to see, on an island most travellers miss.
For one of the most extraordinary vineyard landscapes in Europe, a UNESCO basalt-pen vineyard on Pico's coast.
What's in the glass
The wines sourced from these specific coastal pens are pure expressions of maritime terroir, defined by salinity and high acidity. They carry a distinct crystalline structure that mirrors the clarity of the surrounding Atlantic horizon.
How it came to be
These vineyards were painstakingly constructed over centuries, with farmers clearing lava fields by hand to build thousands of kilometers of dry-stone walls. The structure was designed to protect vines from the relentless oceanic winds while allowing the dark basalt to absorb solar heat during the day and release it at night. This architectural feat earned the area its status as a World Heritage site, marking it as one of the most unique viticultural landscapes in existence.
Best for, and who should skip
Photographers and landscape enthusiasts who value the deep history of human survival in hostile environments.
Less ideal for: Travelers with limited mobility or those seeking the manicured, walkable vineyard estates found in mainland regions like the Douro Valley, as the Pico landscape is rugged, unpaved, and physically demanding.
Skip if: Those with limited mobility may find the uneven, rocky terrain of the vineyard paths difficult to navigate.
Tours, tastings & getting there
The primary way to experience this landscape is through the designated walking trails that thread through the UNESCO-protected currais. While not a single winery, several small producers maintain tasting rooms adjacent to these fields where visitors can sample the fruits of this extreme labor.
Getting there: On Pico island; base in Madalena.
Getting around: Exploration of the currais is done entirely on foot along the protected corridors of the basalt walls.
Wear sturdy, closed-toe hiking shoes as the volcanic rock is sharp and the ground is consistently uneven.
When to go
May–September.
Best in the warmer months.
Allow: Half a day
Beyond the tasting room
Walk the vineyard coast between Madalena and Criação Velha, visit the Museu do Vinho, and taste at a local producer.
Pair with
Bolo Lêvedo dos Fenais
A soft, sweet round bread, split and toasted — the Azores' everyday bread and breakfast.
Cozido das Furnas
A meat-and-vegetable stew cooked underground by volcanic steam — the Azores' most theatrical dish.
Cracas
Barnacles picked from the rocks and eaten raw or briefly cooked — the Azores' most hardcore seafood snack.
Other wines to explore
Azores
A volcanic archipelago wine region across nine islands, defined by the UNESCO basalt-pen vineyards of Pico, where Arinto, Verdelho and Terrantez make taut, mineral wines from some of the most extreme terroir on earth.
Azores Wine Company
The pioneering Pico estate of winemakers António Maçanita and Filipe Cardoso, reviving serious winemaking on the volcanic island with taut, mineral whites from Arinto and Verdelho grown in the UNESCO basalt vineyards.
Biscoitos Vineyards
A small, traditional wine region on the north coast of Terceira island — the Biscoitos currais, basalt-pen vineyards growing Verdelho for the island's distinctive whites and reds; a tiny cooperative keeps the tradition alive.
Nearby
Azores
Nine volcanic islands in the mid-Atlantic — calderas, crater lakes, whales, hot springs, and green so green it has its own color ('azul').
Pico
The mountain island — Portugal's highest peak, vineyards grown in black lava, and a wild, black-rock coast. The Azores for the adventurous.
Where it sits
