The Pico vineyards inscribed on the World Heritage List, Pico island, Azores,; Shutterstock ID 131557715; Your name (First / Last): James Kay; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Azores destination page highlights

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Vineyards of Pico

The Azores


The island of Pico has produced wine since the 15th century, but don’t expect neat rows of vines amid picturesque fields. The vintners here adapted to a landscape of volcanic soil littered with lumps of black basalt.

They used the basalt to create dry stone-walled plots called ‘currais’, which expose the vines to the sun but protect them from the wind. A vast grid of currais covers more than 2,000 acres of land on Pico’s western coast.

This area – known as Criação Velha – became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2004 and you can learn more about its unique history of viniculture at the Pico Island Vineyard Culture Interpretation Centre in Lajido Santa Luzia.


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