📍 Biscoitos

Biscoitos is a protected designation of origin on Terceira island in the Azores, in the Atlantic Ocean. The area covers the parish of Biscoitos in the municipality of Praia da Vitória, at altitudes of up to 100 metres. The name refers to the very stony, dark soil, which looked like the ship's biscuit that sailors of the Age of Discovery ate instead of bread.

The island is volcanic. To plant vines, lava stones are removed until soil is reached, and walls are built from them around small plots; these stone enclosures shelter the vines from the wind and the salt spray of the sea. The soils are thin and stony, over basalt and similar rocks. All work in these vineyards is done by hand, as the way the vines are trained leaves no room for machines.

The main grape is Verdelho, spread by Franciscan friars, who saw similarities between the islands and Sicily. The Biscoitos designation covers only white liqueur (fortified) wine of at least 16% vol., aged for at least three years; it is usually dry or medium-dry but can also be sweet, with complex spicy aromas. The wine became famous and was widely exported.

The climate of Terceira is strongly oceanic, with small temperature swings, high humidity and plenty of rain; the mean annual temperature at sea level is about 17 °C.