Insula Chão de Lava Rosé 2023

Insula Vinus is an entrepreneurial 3.3-hectare project from Insula Atlantis, combining vineyard, winery, accommodation and tourism to promote the best of what the Azores produce. Guided by simplicity, its viticulture respects ancestral values, keeping native grapes and enhancing the qualities of Azorean wines.

The Wine Advocate
RP 91+
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

Insula is the largest rosé producer on Pico, and the 2023 Chão de Lava AA Rosé was made from grapes Machado doesn't like for reds: Syrah, Merlot, etc., though he hopes soon to make some reds from the old red grapes (Bastardo, Rufete, Saborinho, etc.). This is his signature: a pale rosé with a gastronomic, mineral, saline, fresh side. It's a little reductive because it was bottled very recently, but the palate is great, complete and balanced, with volume, freshness and a clear saline touch on the finish, keeping fruit and freshness. It has 12.2% alcohol, a pH of 3.43 and 7.49 grams of acidity. He thinks of it as a white with a little colour. 14,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in February 2024.

Insula Vinus is the personal project of Paulo Machado, a native of Pico Island, where it seems everyone has some connection to wine. His grandparents made wine, and he went on to study agronomy. He began buying vineyards and regrafting some of the family's vines, and in 2006 he started making wine. In 2013 he began working with Azores Wine Company, but returned to focus on his own project in 2018. He now has 25 hectares of vines aged between five and 100 years, mainly in the south of Pico, in the parishes of São Mateus and Candelária, and in the west, in Criação Velha and Madalena.