Since the beginning of the European colonization in America, the vine began to travel the world by boat, following the interests and curiosities of adventurers, migrants and botanists.
Almost halfway between Europe and the American continent, there are lands that are not to be missed: the archipelago of the Azores, where the viticulture has been present since the fifteenth century when the first settlers arrived.
We put the camera down for a few days in the wine-growing landscape of the volcanic island of Pico, classified since 2004 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Here, to cultivate the vine, it was necessary to face some major challenges: a rocky volcanic soil not old enough to have generated a fertile soil, and a very particular climate. In order to protect the vines from the sea wind and spray, men built a huge network of lava stone walls that form thousands of small enclosures, locally called "currais", and which adjoin each other.
Decimated by waves of vine diseases in the nineteenth century when it was in its golden age, the viticulture of Pico is now booming thanks to the passionate investment of a new generation of winemakers.
