Most people’s relationship with wine from the Azores starts in a restaurant. Volcanic wines, along with island wines, old vines, coastal and obscure wines, are catnip for sommeliers, who rave about how food-friendly they are and what a great talking point they make. Wine from the Azores ticks all those boxes.

Ekstedt at The Yard is one such restaurant. Top Swedish chef Niklas Ekstedt’s London outpost boasts a 45-strong listing of volcanic wines, from Mount Etna to Tenerife, Madeira to the Azores, curated by head sommelier Klearhos Kanellakis: ‘The wines have salty, smoky, minerally notes that pair well with our food, which focuses on wood-fired cooking and fermented vegetables. Azores wine is a great example of that and we love to share its story.’

And what a story. The Azores is as far west as you can go in Europe; nine islands scattered 870 miles west of Lisbon and most of it a wild paradise, with volcanoes to hike, hydrangea-covered hills to tramp and top-notch surfing – the ‘Hawaii of Europe’ some call it. And now you can add a growing number of boutique hotels, some boasting top chefs, that are building an exciting dining scene – one that is making the most of the archipelago’s particularly flavourful produce, most notably its wines.

It’s 485 miles further west from the Azorean capital Ponta Delgada to Pico Island, where most of the Azores’ wines are made. Wine has been produced here since the 15th century but it’s no easy ride; yields are low and obstacles are many, from the strong Atlantic winds and high humidity to birds scoffing the grapes. Producers stick with it because of the rewards in the glass, ranging from fine and crisp wines to those that are powerful and dense but always with a seam of salt.

Pico produces mostly white wine – some of it licoroso (sweet, sometimes fortified – de rigueur in the 17th and 18th centuries) to keep with tradition but also small amounts of red, rosé and sparkling. The revival began here more than a decade ago, thanks largely to the Azores Wine Company (AWC) and its star Portuguese winemaker António Maçanita, who made it his mission to revive forgotten grape varieties, such as Terrantez do Pico. Add to that a curious training system where vines grow through cracks in the volcanic rocks enclosed in centuries-old stone currais that protect against the Atlantic winds and you have a unique terroir, with the vineyards of Pico Island listed as a World Heritage Site since 2004. ‘These wines occupy a special place all of their own,’ says Master of Wine Jeremy Lithgow, AWC’s UK importer at Amathus Drinks. Now rated as one of Portugal’s top whites, Pico is becoming a big draw for wine tourists. ‘What is happening on Pico today, no one could have dreamt of a decade ago,’ says Filipe Rocha, co-founder of the AWC.

Manuel Goes agrees. The general manager of São Miguel luxury boutique hotel, Octant Ponta Delgada, which has just introduced new suites and installed a food and wine shop, believes the wines play a crucial role in promoting the Azores as a destination for: ‘The growing popularity of Pico wines, with their unique characteristics and storied heritage, are attracting visitors keen on exploring the area’s diverse gastronomy. These wines capture the essence of the island’s history and landscape.’

One look around the Mercado do Graca in Ponta Delgada will strengthen that theory. Most prominent are the displays of locally grown pineapples – the only pineapples grown in Europe, introduced in the 19th century after a pressing need for cash crop and not exactly easy to grow. Then there’s the long line outside the capital’s best cheese shop, O Rei dos Queijos, most waiting for a hunk of coveted Sao Jorge, a tangy, semi-hard raw cow’s milk cheese named after the island where it is made and one of many excellent cheeses here.

The nutrient-rich volcanic soil gives a distinct character to the food produced here, from the highly prized beef to the dialled-up flavours of the fruit and vegetables. And it’s those flavours that people in the Azores’ hospitality industry want to trumpet, among them João Reis, owner and CEO of Singular Properties, which includes São Miguel boutique hotels White and Santa Barbara Eco-Beach Resort. Both venues operate high-end restaurants supplied by Singular Properties’ own organic farm. ‘This approach is crucial for our future, as it contributes to environmental sustainability and strengthens the connection between local producers and consumers, while supporting the local economy,’ says Reis, who recently recruited top Portuguese chef Vítor Sobral as its consultant chef.

Often cited as the father of modern Portuguese cuisine, Sobral has put ingredients grown on the Azores at the centre of both menus. ‘All the islands have unique and extraordinary produce. The Azores is that perfect combination of civilisation and wilderness,’ says Sobral.

Five of the best restaurants on the Azores

São Miguel Island

Cardume

Perched on top of the cliffs in the small town of Lagoa on São Miguel Island’s south coast, stunning boutique hotel White offers nine suites and one villa, with a black-bottomed saltwater infinity pool and a stylish fish-focused restaurant overseen by one of Portugal’s best-known chefs, Vítor Sobral. With the entire property newly revamped in shades of white with pinches of colour from the famous local ceramics and the Atlantic pounding on the rocks 15 metres below, you can dine on the best the sea and land have to offer. Starters include cured amberjack, apple emulsion, fennel and cucumber salad, while there are mains of confit wreckfish with a tomato, ginger and coconut sauce. To match, a richly fruited, pleasingly salty, perkily acidic Arinto made on Pico Island by the AWC. Don’t miss the São Jorge cheese bread.

whiteazores.com

Santa Barbara Restaurant

It was the surf that drew João Reis and his wife Catarina to open the Santa Barbara Eco-Beach Resort in 2015, occupying a prime spot at the end of the breathtaking black sandy beach at Ribeira Seca. Now with 30 suites and villas that integrate beautifully with their surroundings, it also offers an impressive kitchen overseen by Portuguese modern cuisine maestro Vítor Sobral. On a day-to-day basis, local chef Fernanda Carolina is in charge of the kitchen, serving a menu that makes the most of produce from the organic farm right next to the hotel. Dishes satisfy both surfers and gourmands, including roasted beef in smoked brine salad, beetroot and orange, cauliflower and yam puree, and puddings such as malassada (an Azorean pastry) with milk ice-cream, coconut and pineapple. The wine list features thrilling wines from Pico, Terceira and Graciosa.

santabarbaraazores.com

A Terra

Yachts bob about in the marina below as you feast on local flavours given a contemporary spin at Octant Ponta Delgada’s restaurant A Terra. Forward-thinking, design-led Portuguese boutique hotel group Octant places ‘localism’ at the heart of operations with the aim of highlighting regional knowledge and flavours in their restaurants. A recent event, called Como em Casa, saw amateur local cooks invited into Octant’s kitchens to show off their family’s traditional dishes, leaving diners with a deeper understanding of the local culture. At its nearby Furnas property, famous for the hot springs, local dish cozido, cooked underground, is the star of the show, which guests can help to make. In both A Terra restaurants, local produce rules: the chefs, led by Henrique Mouro (pictured), deliver well-executed dishes that let the ingredients shine, from octopus with parsley dumplings to grilled tuna with sweet potatoes, fennel and citrus. Start with a fizz from the Ilha de Pico Cooperative made from ancient grape Terrantez de Pico.

Octanthotels.com

Pico Island

Pico Restaurant

It’s here, at the AWC, where the global, sommelier-led craze for Pico wines started, thanks to pioneering Portuguese winemaker António Maçanita and founding partner Filipe Rocha. They began by reviving some almost extinct grape varieties and then opened a stylish hotel and restaurant in the winery. ‘It’s a Pico adega,’ corrects Rocha, who explains the difference between a mainland adega and the Pico version. ‘Here it’s a place where friends come together for a glass, a meal, to party and to sleep.’ The AWC offers five chic bedrooms and a two-bedroom apartment, plus a Michelin-star-worthy restaurant headed up by talented young chef Rui Batista, who wows diners with his ingenious combinations of Azorean produce that perfectly showcase the wines. Choose the tasting menu paired with AWC wines eaten at a shared table with views over the vines or sit at the counter for a more casual meal.

antoniomacanita.com

Magma

Magma restaurant is part of the Lava Homes complex of villa rentals in the village of Terralta on the northeast side of the island run by Benedita Branco. She moved to the island a few years ago and has been transforming the hospitality options on Pico with projects like this one. You can try a good selection of Pico wines here, including young gun André Ribeiro’s racy, salty Verdelho. The vines were planted on his grandfather’s abandoned vineyard and the product of the fruit can be sipped while gazing along this verdant stretch of coast. Chef Maurício Amaral delivers stellar country cooking, including Pico favourites such as octopus salad, grilled local sausages, limpets with garlic butter, broad bean stew and slow-cooked squid with rosemary rice.

lavahomes.com

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