In addition to farm gardens, orchards and forest gardens that are specifically aimed at providing food, many locals also have their own vineyards, for wine and from the skins of the grapes also for making brandy. Often these fields are close to the coast, part of which on Pico has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“The grapes are grown there in the crevices of the lava, with small walls of basalt built around them.”
The grapes are grown there in the crevices of the lava, with small walls of basalt built around them and laid flat so that the salty winds can pass over them well and keep the grapes small, a combination of factors that gives an intense flavor palette.
There are several indigenous grape varieties, starting with the Verdelho. It was supposedly introduced from Madeira to the Azores by the Franciscan monk Frei Gigante. DNA profiling has since confirmed that the Verdelho of Madeira and the Azores is the same. Furthermore, you have 2 grape varieties that are related to the Verdelho, and are a hybrid of it, which are the Arinto dos Açores and the Terrantez do Pico.
In addition to the vineyards on Pico, wine is also grown on Garciosa and Terceira. Because the fields on Terceira where viticulture was possible were limited, many wealthier families chose to establish fields on Pico for their own use.
Many harvests are turned in to the cooperatives for vinification for making wine. The best quality alcohol is made from those dried grape skins, the trot, which the cooperatives return to members for bagaço (i.e., an ojuro (ES), marc (FR) or grappa (IT)). In the vinification of red wine, the marc is left in the must throughout the fermentation period and fermented that way. This fermented draff is ideally suited for the production of soft-dry brandy with a high alcohol content.
Many local communities have their own, legalized kettles, locally called alambiques, where you can have the dried grape skins and whatever else is left from the garden distilled into aquardente in a controlled and safe manner, paying for the excise tax immediately. Because of the limited number of alambiques on the island, reservations are required. One then goes “Vamos alambicar” (or: to the kettle). Burning is still done with wood, so everyone must bring their own firewood to keep the process going.
Since there are usually several reservations at the same time, you are expected to help each other. Actually, it is still customary for everyone to bring a festive snack on this day, and while this aguardente is being made, there is time to chat with each other. An old tradition that is really kept alive locally.
