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The apartments are located in Madalena, Pico Island. Built in an area with four “Jeirões” (about 10000 m2) of original vineyard, still preserved according to tradition.
The guests are welcomed to try out the fruits that “sprout from the rock” when they are ripe.
Why "jeirão"?
In the traditional vineyards of Pico, the plants are protected by walls of loose black boulders, forming small plots (“currais”), grouped together in a “Jeirão” - an ancient measure, limited by a surrounding wall made by the same type of rocks.
In the mid to late 19th Century, the Grape Phylloxera blight nearly drove this variety of grape to extinction.
In Pico, also referred to as the Black Island, the West part of the island was mostly covered by dark basaltic stone. The first settlers needed to remove it manually, piling it geometrically in “Maroiços” in order to use the land for farming.
In 2004, Unesco has classified this particular vineyard landscape as World Heritage Site.
The Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture is a Unesco World Heritage Site.) |
