Soaring up from the island of Pico stands the eponymous volcano which, at 2,351 metres high, is the third largest in the Atlantic ocean. On its slopes, in soils of lava and basalt rock, special vineyards thrive, and not only because of the shape they give to the landscape. We Explorers arrived here full of curiosity and departed matured by an awareness: from the soil here, cultivated with age-old and powerful techniques, come wines that are nothing short of superb, completely different from any we have tasted thus far on the continent.