The Azores Wine Company was founded on April 3rd, 2014, by the partners António Maçanita, Filipe Rocha and Insula Vinus, Lda. Amongst the several projects they are involved in, we find wine production in Pico, the recovery of an endangered grape variety, as well as the promotion of the Azorean wine and gastronomy.
In 2010, António Maçanita began, along with the S. Miguel Agricultural Development Services, the winemaking work of the Terrantez do Pico grape variety. Unique in the world, this nearly extinct caste reveals a surprising freshness, mineral quality and salinity. Afterwards, in 2013, there was a joint venue on Pico island, put together by Fita Preta wines and Insula Vinus, in order to produce a wine based on one more autochthon grape variety of the Region: Arinto dos Açores. This is how the Azores Wine Company was born and in 2014, the first year, it was already producing 10.000 bottles. The single varieties white wines Arinto dos Açores and Verdelho O Original of the Rare Grapes Collection represent more than half the production. However, the red and rose wines are also quite surprising. The first Azorean sparklings are also a part of this story. It was made in 2011 by António Maçanita in the Terrantez do Pico project (in S. Miguel island) and in 2014 the first Arinto dos Açores sparkling, already under Azores Wine Company signature. Lastly, there is the work already being developed in the fortified wines domain, in search of the famous Pico wines that travelled the world over 400 years ago.
17 pts Revista de Vinhos - Open ruby colour. Aroma with hints of alcoholic cherry, iodine and clove notes. In the mouth it is fresh, medium texture with a lot...
91 pts Robert Parker - Fresh mineral and saline attack, has the matrix of the Azorean grape varieties and Terroir, but with a lush, more tropical, more...
92 pts Robert Parker - Citrus yellow clean colour. Pure mineral aroma, citrus with notes of grapefruit. Tense, fresh attack with a very present minerality and...
92 pts Robert Parker - Mineral fresh and salty, has an array of varieties and Terroir Azoreans, but with a lush aroma, more tropical, plus pineapple and passion...
18 pts Revista de Vinhos - Clean citrus yellow color. Pure, citrus mineral aroma with grapefruit notes. Tense, fresh attack with a very present minerality and...
93 pts Robert Parker - Citrus yellow clean colour. Pure mineral aroma, citrus with notes of grapefruit. Tense, fresh attack with a very present minerality and...
93 pts Robert Parker - Mineral fresh and salty typical of the Azores terroir. Fresh, with good acidity and some greasiness, and a large saline component.
95 pts Robert Parker - Citrus-straw yellow colour, iodine, salt, lime aroma. In the mouth, a concentrated attack, sharp acidity that remains until the end of...
19,5 pts Revista de Vinhos - Citrus-straw yellow colour, iodine, salt, lime aroma. In the mouth has a dense concentrated attack, acidity remains until the end...
92 pts Robert Parker - Citrus colour, elegant and full flavour that grows in the glass, becoming increasingly persistent. The flavour is full bodied, fresh and complex with great final complexity.
