Let's Explore the Wines of Cabo Verde

Did you know they make wine in Cabo Verde? Did you know that there was such a place as Cabo Verde? If I told you it was Cape Verde to most Americans who have heard of it, would that make a difference? We're going there today to taste the local wine and it's going to be quite the trip.

Well, we're not just going to the tiny archipelago nation, we're going to the smaller island of Fogo to the west of the main island of Santiago. To get there, we need to fly into the capital of Praia. Leaving from our base in Atlanta, we hop on a plane to JFK in New York. From there, it's off to Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, Morocco (CMN if you're into airport codes) and finally and finally into Osvaldo Vieira International Airport in the Cabo Verde capital of Praia. From there, we are taking a boat ride to Chã das Caldeiras, a tiny community sitting in the crater of the volcano Pico da Fogo. Commonly known simply as Chã (plain in English), this community has fewer than 1000 inhabitants and survives with neither running water nor electricity. But, they do grow their own grapes and make their own wine.

By the way, this volcano is not dormant. In fact, it last erupted only 6 years ago in 2014. That's not likely something most American winemakers deal with.

Despite being near the equator, the elevation provides for significant enough diurnal differences in temperature to grow quality grapes. And, the natural volcanic soil (what else would it be), provides wonderful minerality and drainage. Of course, all irrigation is whatever the weather drops on Chã as without running water, there is no other way to water the grapes inside the crater.

Despite the conditions and ... well ... everything about wine production in a tiny town located inside a volcano, they make four different styles of wine here -- dry red, dry white, blush rosé, and sweet. The red is a blend of the traditional Portuguese grape (the nation does have a Portuguese heritage) of Touriga Nacional and the traditional Spanish grape Tempranillo. Big and bold with fairly high alcohol content, it's loaded with dark fruit and surprisingly soft tannins. Nobody knows yet how well it ages, but consumed young, it pairs with red meats.

The white wine is made from Moscatel. It has soft grapefruit notes, but a bot of sweetness without residual sugars. It pairs well with the fish or shellfish of the day as well as soft cheese particularly goat cheese.

Local rosé from Chã is also Touriga Nacional based. It's brimming with strawberry and would be a wonderful companion for a shrimp cocktail sitting outside in the summer. Surprisingly, at least to me, the locals tell us that this wine will improve with age at least for a few years.

Finally, the sweet wine, is also made from Moscatel. It's a quite interesting wine as the grapes are put through a drying process much like the appassimento process used for Amerone. This gives the resulting sweet wine an amber color and produces a wine that tastes like sweet figs and dates. Pair it with soft cheeses at cool temperatures (about 8C/47F) during the warmer days or a bit warmer in front of a roaring fire in winter.