Wine Museum of Biscoitos

The Wine Museum at Biscoitos, in the north of the island, is the only wine museum in the Azores and a good reason to make the drive from Angra. Biscoitos produces Verdelho wine — a semi-dry white made from grapes grown in extraordinary lava-field vineyards unique to the island. The museum, set in a traditional manor house, documents the winemaking process from grape to bottle using 19th-century equipment.

The adjacent volcanic rock pools (known as the natural pools of Biscoitos) provide excellent Atlantic seawater swimming and are among the best natural sea pools in the Azores. Combining the museum with a swim makes for a full half-day excursion from Angra. The museum is open daily in summer; check hours in winter. Wine tasting available; the Verdelho is worth buying.

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The vineyards of Biscoitos grow in volcanic lava fields — low walls of black basalt enclose individual vines, protecting them from the Atlantic wind and trapping warmth from the dark stone. The technique is identical to that used in the Canary Islands (Lanzarote) and Santorini in Greece, all volcanic islands where similar problems produced similar solutions.