Verdelho

This grape variety gained an international reputation in Madeira and the Azores Islands, along with Australia. On Madeira, it has traditionally been responsible for the tangy, off-dry style of (fortified) Madeira Wine. The base wines have high acidity, and can be aromatic. Before the vine-munching phylloxera bug reached Madeira in the late 19th century, Verdelho vines accounted for two-thirds of Madeira's vineyards. Nowadays very little remains, growing mostly on high ground along the north coast of the island. The Verdelho from Azores Islands is known for freshness, minerality, salinity and vibrant acidity. Is considered the oldest and most typical grape variety.  Is one of the three traditional varieties grown on Pico Island in the Azores, which exported it to mainland Europe (most notably the cellars of Czar Nicholas II) before the variety was all but wiped out in the phylloxera plague. Returning to their roots, the islands of the Azores, with predominance in the islands of Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa Island and Terceira have been planting the grape again and the wine produced, exported to several countries of Europe, particularly to England. It is similar to the Verdelho that is grown in Australia to where it was taken from Madeira Island around 1824, where it makes rich, aromatic dry whites. It is different from the Italian Verdecchio and the Spanish Verdejo.

 _{Fonte: Wines of Portugal}