for "Maria's Portuguese Table," season two, has been provided by Rhode Island PBS Foundation.

Rhode Island PBS, engaging viewers of all ages since 1967.

- [Announcer] "Maria's Portuguese Table" is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Bay Coast Bank, providing services and financial solutions for the people and businesses of Southern New England since 1851.

(playful music) - [Announcer] Underwriting for "Maria's Portuguese Table," season two, has been provided by... (gentle music) - [Maria Voice-Over] On this episode of "Maria's Portuguese Table" my visit to São Jorge continues.

- Oh my god, I can't!

- [Maria Voice-Over] As I do one of the scariest things I've ever done on this show.

- Whoa!

- [Maria Voice-Over] All for the opportunity to visit one of the most stunning and magical places on the island.

Later, we take a ferry ride to the Island of Pico for some local flavors and immersive wine tours, all on today's show.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (bright music) So far on São Jorge, I've gotten an inside look to see firsthand how their world-famous cheese is made, baked the island's best known dessert, the espécies, and I visited the only commercial coffee plantation in Europe.

Next, I meet up with my local host, Nelson Ponta-Garça.

Nelson is an award-winning filmmaker and television producer.

He was born in California, but his family is from right here on the island.

After living in the San Francisco Bay Area most of his life, he moved his family back to São Jorge in 2018.

- What's your take on São Jorge so far?

- The nature is incredible.

If you're not spiritual, you will be.

(laughs) (upbeat music) - [Maria Voice-Over] Nelson's goal is to bring this experience to the rest of the world.

He is creating a vacation experience that includes this journey that I am on now to the Fajã da Calheta, which "The New York Times" claim to be one of the most beautiful spots in the world.

According to Nelson, it has many other amazing qualities, too.

- Calheta is a very aphrodisiac, they say, also, for people that have their pregnancies there, many stories of people that saw enlightenment in Calheta.

- (laughing) Oh my goodness!

(upbeat music) ♪ Boom, boom, boom ♪ - [Maria Voice-Over] But getting someplace this magical doesn't come easy, there are no roads, so we had to ditch the car and hop onto an ATV.

- [Nelson] Hey, Maria.

- [Maria] Yes.

All right, time?

- Yes, let's do it.

- All right, time to go, let's go!

- [Maria Voice-Over] Well, sort of.

- Let's go see this place, oh my god!

Oh my god, hold on, no, no, no, I'm not in yet.

My leg, my shirt.

(laughs) (Nelson laughing) I'm gonna do this again!

Oh my god, I can't!

My God in heaven, my leg is too short!

- Hold on, there you go, you in?

- Okay, now I'm in.

I have short legs, folks, I'm sorry.

(adventurous music) - [Maria Voice-Over] Given more time, I would love to hike the trail to Calheta, but for now, I just hold on and try not to scream.

- [Maria] Whoa!

(laughs) - [Maria Voice-Over] Nelson's home is situated on a small hill with an unobstructed view of the lagoon and the ocean.

To say it is breathtaking is an understatement.

- Welcome to the Calheta experience.

- Okay, well, that was a crazy ride!

- We got some clams, amêijoas (speaking Portuguese) from that lagoon waiting for you.

- [Maria] From that lagoon, and who's here cooking?

- [Nelson] This is Kathy.

- [Maria] Kathy, hi Kathy.

- Hello.

- And you already started cooking?

- Yes, so we are making the amêijoas (speaking Portuguese).

- So these are the famous clams.

What's so famous about this?

- So these are a species that you can only get on this lagoon.

And they're a perfect combination of salt water from the ocean and the rain from the lagoon that both gather there.

When people come here, this is what everybody wants to try, amêijoas (speaking Portuguese).

And the only, probably the second best thing, the lapas, the limpets.

- The limpets, which are gorgeous.

- That, you know, just from our backyard.

(traditional Portuguese music) - [Maria Voice-Over] The pot for the clams is filled with white wine and garlic, and we allow it to reduce for about 15 minutes.

Then all that is added to the pot are clams, parsley, and butter.

Meanwhile, the focus turns to the sauce for the limpets, also known as lapas.

The sauce contains butter, oil, garlic, parsley, and a spicy pepper that gives it a kick.

Now, is there a difference between the white lapas and the black lapas?

- Yes, the black ones are called lapa-mansa.

You will find them more on the rocks, rocks that you could access.

We could go down there and just pick it.

- [Maria] Interesting.

- The branca, you would have to dive under water to get the- - Oh, so the white is harder to get than the black?

- Yeah, and everybody has their preferences, you know?

(bright music) - [Maria Voice-Over] The clams still needed a bit more time, so it was time for a taste testing of the lapas.

- You want the lapas branca or mansa?

- I'm gonna try this one first.

- I'll pick it up for you.

- Oh boy, oh boy, okay, going in.

Oh, this one has a shorter thing here.

No, (indistinct) (laughing) I'm gonna get it right, guys, okay, here we go.

- [Nelson] Mmm.

- Oh that's so good.

So good, that's delicious, good job.

- Thank you.

- [Maria Voice-Over] Next, we needed to taste the black lapas.

- [Maria] Okay, now this one is?

- [Nelson] Lapa-mansa.

- Here we go, guys.

- I like this one.

- [Nelson] Good?

Not everybody can tell.

You like this one better, the mansa?

- This one is smoother, woo hoo, nice, I like that.

- And the amêijoas are coming next.

(bright music) - Oh my goodness, that smells wonderful.

- [Maria Voice-Over] And now, it was time to try the clams that came from the waters only about 200 yards away.

- Okay, so I'm gonna open it up, okay, all right.

- You just want to try as much as fast as you can.

- Okay.

(Kathy chuckles) - Like that?

- And then you go for a second, yeah.

- Okay, all right, here I go.

Okay, cheers.

- [Nelson] Cheers.

(bright music continues) - It's good!

And you can taste the ocean.

- [Nelson] Yeah, si.

- So simple, yet so good.

- [Nelson] Yes.

- Isn't that something?

- Right from our backyard.

- Right from your backyard.

I'll cheer to that, thank you.

(glasses clink) (gentle music) - [Maria Voice-Over] I cannot ask for a better way to spend my last day on São Jorge.

I feel fortunate to experience moments like today in the presence of good people, surrounded by stunning scenery, and enjoying a dish that can only be found in the Azores.

- It's a lot of love here, a lot of love.

You can't make food without love.

- [Kathy] That's very true.

- [Maria] It doesn't taste good if it doesn't, yeah.

- [Maria Voice-Over] I am thankful for my time on São Jorge and cannot wait to come back.

(upbeat music) - Okay, so I'm all excited now.

I am getting on a ferry, and we're leaving São Jorge and going Pico, the land of wine, come along!

- [Maria Voice-Over] A great thing for travelers to these central islands is that multiple islands are easily accessible via ferry or a short plane ride.

The ferry ride from São Jorge to Pico is only about an hour or so, (ferry horn blows) enough time to soak in the fresh sea air, and as it turns out, the enthusiastic sea life.

(playful music) - We just saw dolphins, and dolphins were to either side of the boat.

And it's like the dolphins came to either side, welcoming us to Pico, how amazing is that?

And everyone just rushed over, it was really exciting to see!

Oh Azores, you're beautiful.

(ferry horn blows) (gentle guitar music) - [Maria Voice-Over] Pico is the youngest island in all Azores archipelago, clocking in at about 300,000 years old.

Dominating the landscape is of course, Ponta do Pico, which is the highest mountain in all of Portugal.

It is often shrouded in cloud cover, adding to the magic and mystery of Pico, sometimes called The Black Island.

You can hike all the way to the top of the mountain, but we will not be doing that.

Instead, we're going to explore the other thing Pico has become known for, it's wine!

Pico's famous wine production has a rich history.

For example, when the American Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the Founding Fathers celebrated that historic day with a toast of wine from Pico.

My first stop is to the Ilha do Pico co-op, which was founded slightly more recently.

- Antonio?

- Yes, yes, yes.

- [Maria] Maria.

- Pleasure, Antonio.

- Oh, nice to meet you.

Now, this co-op you started in 1969.

- Yeah, with 25.

- With 25 people.

- At the moment, 285.

- 285.

So your cooperative has grown a lot.

- [Antonio] A lot, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Maria] So all the grapes.

- [Antonio] Come here.

- [Maria] Come here.

- [Antonio] Yes.

- [Maria Voice-Over] By combining forces, the growers can earn a fair price while concentrating on producing the best possible grapes and wines.

Even with a co-op pooling their resources, the quantity produced each year is still very low compared to most places in the world.

- To start, we will start with the same grape, but different places from the island, okay?

- Same grape, but grown in different places on the island will give you a different taste.

- [Antonio] Yeah, exactly, it will be really different.

- [Maria] Okay, let's see.

(wine pouring) Oh, that smells delicious.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- [Maria] Why do I smell apples?

- Yeah, I have a little of apples.

- [Maria] Isn't it?

- Little apples?

A lot of citrus parts.

- Yes!

How long has it been there?

- One month.

- One month!

- And it will stay more six months.

- Okay.

(gentle music) - So you can feel it?

- Ooh... - [Antonio] It's awesome.

- That is delicious!

- [Antonio] This is awesome.

- It's still lingering.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And it hits the tongue, and it goes all the way to the back.

- Exactly, okay, now we can taste the second one.

Different type of soil, more near to the center.

You will see the difference, so that is more legit rock, so more odd things.

And here, it's more fresh in the nose.

- [Maria] Oh, it smells different.

- Yeah, really different.

- It smells good.

- The same grape.

- Same grape?

It smells completely different.

(bright guitar music) More acid?

- You can feel it.

- Oh yeah.

- It the touches like- - It goes right there.

It gives you that little, (squeals) "We're here!"

- You like it?

- I do.

- Nice.

- I like both.

(Maria laughs) - [Maria Voice-Over] After they're done fermenting in giant vats, the red wines get stored in smaller oak barrels to influence the taste.

- You can try it?

- Well, I mean, I have to, I'm in Pico, so I have to try them.

- [Antonio] Okay, let's see.

- Oh my god, my dad would make (Portuguese term) at home.

We would have (Portuguese term), so I, that's the smell.

Oh, dad, it's for you.

- [Antonio] The red fruits.

- [Maria] Oh my god, this is childhood memories, right here.

- The smell from the winery, memories from your father.

- Yeah, it's my childhood right here, it's my childhood.

(glasses clink) - For your father.

- Thank you.

- [Maria Voice-Over] What they are doing at the Ilha do Pico co-op is amazing.

Wine making is a balance of nature, chemistry, and artistry, and they have mastered it here.

(gentle flute music) Now that I've had a small taste of Pico wines, I wanted to get out and see these UNESCO World Heritage vineyards for myself.

The wine region, (Portuguese term) is not far from the municipality of Madalena.

And if you are imagining lush rolling hills with row of vineyards, think again.

The vineyards of Pico cover roughly 2400 acres of basalt rock landscape, and they are parceled into smaller stoned-wall lots to protect the vines from the fierce wind and the salty surge of the Atlantic Ocean.

To walk around this region is magical and otherworldly, beautiful and haunting, all at the same time.

I feel lost in this moment, and I find it irresistibly peaceful here.

As the sun sets on Pico, and the cloud covers envelops Ponta do Pico, it is time to experience the culinary offerings of this island.

There are many restaurants that offer views galore of stunning sunsets and neighboring faial.

But tonight, I head to a local favorite, Ancoradouro Restaurant, for the specialty of the house.

(traditional Portuguese music) I love the fact that shrimp here, it's the head, the tail, everything is in there.

Oh, oh, beautiful, okay.

Ooh, look at that.

How beautifully is that done, and it's grilled.

That's delicious, it really is, beautiful fish.

(gentle music) - [Maria Voice-Over] While Pico is known for its wines now and was for hundreds of years throughout history, there was a dark era when it all collapsed.

In the early 1850s, vine diseases devastated the island crops.

The Pico wine industry didn't recover for over 100 years, finally reemerging in the 1990s, thanks in part to disease-resistant vines brought in from the United States.

So in the 19th century, during the dark agricultural times, when the people of the island were starving, many young men of Pico turned to the sea for opportunity.

Fishing provided a source of food, and the biggest boom was whaling.

(dramatic music) Today, the idea of whaling seems cruel and barbaric, but for a period, whale oil was the fuel that gave light to settlements around the world.

At the time, the American whaling industry dominated, and some men from Pico used the skills they learned on American boats to jumpstart the industry here.

Its epicenter was along the south central coastal town of Lajes do Pico.

Today, it's home to the Whalers Museum.

- [Maria] What a beautiful museum!

- Thank you, I guess it's so genuine, because the whalers themselves projected this museum.

(dramatic music) - [Maria Voice-Over] It's amazing to think back to this era and how these men would snap to action for a hunt.

- There was a whale spotter watching from sunrise to sunset, and when he spotted one, there would be a firecracker blowing.

- Oh, they would do fireworks!

- Yeah, it goes up, that's when they go to the ocean.

Here we have a hunting scene.

We can see how close they had to approach the sperm whale to hunt.

Whale hunting these waters was always done the same way, with hand-thrown harpoon.

- [Maria Voice-Over] The whaling industry had reached its apex during World War II when the oil from the sperm whales were in high demand as a lubricant for weapons.

But by the 1960s, that need had disappeared, and soon, so did the industry.

(bright music) Nowadays, small boats leave the harbor daily, not full of fishermen, but instead full of tourists, hoping to catch glimpse of the mighty giants of the sea.

By touring the museum, you see how the island has come full circle, and the whales are still very much part of today's economy, but now it is one much more humane and beneficial to both whales and humans.

(dramatic music) The next morning on Pico, I continued my wine tour of the island to investigate an even rarer wine than the ones on the Ilha do Pico co-op.

I met up with lifelong resident and local winemaker, Fortunato Garcia, on three acres of land he inherited from his father.

His dad didn't wanna go into whaling, which was still the dominant industry at the time, and instead became a teacher, which indirectly led the family into winemaking.

- At the beginning of the 60s, he meets another teacher that one day, seeing my dad was very curious about winemaking, one day he turns to my dad and he says, "Say, I'm gonna give you my vineyard."

- No!

- Because none of my kids gonna continue to do this wine, and this wine is about to disappear.

- [Maria Voice-Over] At the time, growers were still switching from traditional verdelho grapes, native to Pico, because it was simply impossible to make a profit using them.

But only verdelho grapes can make the famous wine known as Passito, which dates back to 1460 and was cherished by Russian czars.

(bright music) - So he bought the vineyard with this promise, you have to continue to have enough verdelho, so we can produce, and do not let buy Passito wine.

So we kept this promise.

It was a lot of resilience for us to continue to have a wine that it was not profitable at all.

It was just because he had to keep his word.

Right this way, please.

- [Maria] Wow.

- As you're gonna walk around, you gotta be careful because of course, this came from an eruption.

- [Maria] All basalt stones.

- [Fortunato] Yes.

- [Maria] All lava stones.

- [Fortunato] On this part of the vineyard, most of my vineyards are more than 100 years old.

Okay, for example, this one right here, it's most likely around 100-years-old or a little bit more because of the large part of the- - [Maria] The trunk.

- [Fortunato] The trunk, yes.

And then, how wrinkled the arms are.

(bright music) - [Maria Voice-Over] For perspective, in an average vineyard elsewhere in the world, vines are replaced after they reach 25 to 30 years old, because they produce fewer and fewer grapes as they age and are no longer seen as profitable.

- [Fortunato] Most of this, where we are, almost everything is about 80, 90, 100, some with 120-years-old.

- [Maria Voice-Over] In addition to producing less fruit, because the vines are older, here, the grapes are allowed to dry on the vine until they become raisins.

Passito wine actually means from raisins.

- (gasps) And there it's.

- And this is how normally I produce my wine.

And now you will understand.

- It's sweet.

- It's raisins.

- It's so sweet, okay.

- And you hardly have any juice.

You have a very, very high sugar content.

- Ooh, that's delicious.

- Mhm, so hardly any liquid, it's pure sugar.

- [Maria] No, it's pure sugar, it's delicious.

- That's why it's very, very low production here.

Of all this, most of the time, I don't even take 1,000 liters of wine.

Probably in Napa, you're gonna have like eight to 10 tons per hector.

- Wow.

- And I have 400 kilograms.

- [Maria] Which is nothing.

- [Maria Voice-Over] For comparison, that means in Napa, in an area of the same size, you would get about 22 times more wine.

- [Fortunato] That's why most of the people quit, because it's a totally, this is an insane way of producing wine.

(Maria laughing) - You know what, there's Pico wines, but then there is a special Pico wine.

- [Fortunato] And this is it.

- [Maria] And this is it.

This is an art form from how many hundreds of years?

- We started in 1460.

- In 1460?

- Yes, (chuckles) for quite a while now, huh?

- Crazy.

(upbeat music) - [Maria Voice-Over] Now, Fortunato takes me to the adega, where his father bottled his first vintage, and it's still the place where he ages and stores his world-class wine to this day.

- [Maria] So this one is 2021.

- [Fortunato] Yes.

- [Maria] And 2019, '18, 2014.

- And this is the one that's gonna be bottled next year.

- Because you keep them in the barrels for how long?

- Eight years now.

- [Maria] Eight years now.

- [Maria Voice-Over] The latest release is from 2013 and only had 863 bottles total.

When we head to the back room, you can see why.

- The small container that I have right there, it's my harvest for this year.

For all of that vineyard that you saw- - [Maria] This is it!

- This is half-full or half-empty if you please?

(Maria gasps) That's what happened with the wine.

That's why it's totally insane, right?

- That is, yeah, yeah.

- Okay, so what do I do?

What you're gonna do?

- Oh, you're gonna trust me with half of this?

- [Fortunato] Yes.

- Oh boy.

(laughs) - [Fortunato] There you go.

- [Maria] Okay.

- You gotta dive into the wine.

- I have to dive?

(Fortunato laughs) I'm diving now.

- Okay, see what it's doing.

- [Maria] And it's half, it's half, yes.

- [Fortunato] Boiling.

- [Maria] It is, it's fermenting.

- That means the fermentation is going, so that's a perfect sign.

- That's a beautiful sign.

- Yes, okay, so stick that chug in there.

- Ooh, I'm literally going down there.

- [Fortunato] Yeah, you gotta dive in the wine now.

- I am diving in the wine.

- [Fortunato] There you go.

- Here I go.

(bright music) - Perfect.

- (gasps) Okay.

- And now, fill up.

- [Maria] Okay.

- [Fortunato] Perfect, just drop the rest.

- And I will do that, drop the rest back inside.

And that tells you?

- That tells me how is the fermentation going to see if the density of the wine is losing sugar.

That's how I know the yeasts are doing their job.

So every day I have less sugar in my wine, and I have more alcohol, and if it's not going down, something's wrong with the fermentation.

- Interesting, okay, you're gonna be testing this until it stops fermenting?

- Yeah, it's about eight to 10 months.

- [Maria] And then once that happens.

- It comes to this side of the adega, that's the aging part.

- [Maria] And then it'll be here for eight years.

- [Fortunato] Eight years.

And only after maybe three, four years of aging.

I'm understanding that if I'm gonna have Czar.

- Because if it's not to your standards- - It won't come out as Czar wine, for sure.

Czar, it's always gonna be a totally natural grape juice.

(bright guitar music) - [Maria Voice-Over] For example, in 2010, 2012, and again in 2016 through 2018, there will be no bottles produced of Czar at all.

That's five out of 10 years.

And these insanely high standards that Fortunato has established for his wine has not gone unnoticed by the international community.

Safe to say, I was more than ready to finally try the wine favored by Russian czars for hundreds of years.

- So you can see the color of the wine.

White wines increase, grow darker with age.

So, because this starts as a white wine, then with this amber color, you can see right away that it's old.

Then... - (chuckles) Oh... - Yeah, (chuckles) that's one of the things that the journalists go insane.

- Oh my god, (laughing) it's beautiful!

Oh my god, it's beautiful.

- [Fortunato] Well, in Portuguese, saúde.

- Oh, saúde.

(Fortunato laughs) (gentle guitar music) - Oh, I'm gonna smell it first, again.

Okay, I gotta do the right thing.

(gentle guitar music continues) Oh... - Okay, now I'll explain.

The first sip, it's for your body to know what's coming.

So now with the second sip, (Maria laughing) it is, it is!

You know, it's a strange body.

You never had anything like this in your life, and so it's like your body needs to adjust.

- Do you know like the very under here?

Over here, it's doing this.

- Yes.

(gentle guitar music continues) - Oh my goodness, this is the most incredible thing I've ever had.

- [Fortunato] And every time you drink it, it gets smoother.

- It's so smooth, it's so smooth and so good.

It's so good, it is literally the best I've ever had.

- Oh, thank you very much.

- I have to do this.

I have to do this, oh my god, thank you.

Oh my goodness, thank you.

- [Maria Voice-Over] Czar wines is in a class of its own, and it's only produced here on a rocky, inhospitable terrain of Pico.

I am humbled and thankful for this opportunity, and will cherish it for a lifetime.

I'll see you next time on "Maria's Portuguese Table."

(bright guitar music) (bright guitar music continues) - [Announcer] Underwriting for "Maria's Portuguese table," season two, has been provided by Rhode Island PBS Foundation.

Rhode Island PBS, engaging viewers of all ages since 1967.

- [Announcer] "Maria's Portuguese Table" is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Bay Coast Bank, providing services and financial solutions for the people and businesses of Southern New England since 1851.

(playful music) - [Announcer] Underwriting for "Maria's Portuguese Table," season two, has been provided by... (bright music)