Factor XPTO: Sharing a glass of wine is a unique journey that makes people happy

“I was born and have always lived on Pico Island, where I grew in close connection with the vineyards and the wine.
The family experiences and the fascination with viticulture led me to deepen my knowledge and contribute to the requalification of Azorean wines.
The “Insula Vinus” project, born in 2006, believes in the simplicity of doing well, respecting the ancestral viticultural practices transmitted from generation to generation, with simple adaptations to current knowledge, searching for the best grapes and the minimum of interference in the winery.
Autochthonous white grape varieties from vineyards of different ages, installed in different locations on the island are privileged and combined to enhanced their multiple facets in viticulture and oenology.
Most of the grapes are used for the production of still wines, but a considerable part is reserved for a dry fortified wine DO Pico, fulfilling an old desire. Currently, sparkling wines have gained a prominent place in the winery, but they wait patiently for at least 5 years for the first release.
In the Azores, the unpredictability and rusticity of the climate is inevitable, that’s why every year is different, and so “wines have to be what each year gives”.
The attributes of these wines reflect their origin, where unique grape varieties in the world grow on a rocky “substrate” close to the Atlantic, on a “newly formed” volcanic island with a unique and demanding viticulture.” Paulo Machado