Chã Vinho do Fogo

The Chã Vinho do Fogo winery operates in and around Chã das Caldeiras, producing what are arguably Cape Verde's most interesting wines. The island's grapes grow in the volcanic ash of the caldera floor, which gives the wine a mineral character you will not find anywhere else. The main varieties are Manecom (a red) and a white made from a local grape that has adapted to the altitude and volcanic soil over several generations.

You can visit the winery and taste wines that are available nowhere else in the world. Small quantities are exported to Portugal and elsewhere in Europe, but most production is sold on the island. The winery also produces fogo coffee from plants grown in the same caldera, which has a similarly distinctive profile.

things to do sight
A story
Vines have been grown in Chã das Caldeiras since the early twentieth century, but the 2014 eruption buried the original vineyard under metres of lava. The winery that replaced it — rebuilt in the years after the disaster — is now equipped with modern pressing and fermentation equipment that stands in surreal contrast to the lava fields visible through every window. The wine it produces, from grapes grown in volcanic ash, has attracted serious attention from European importers.