Terreiro Velho

Terreiro Velho is a cocoa estate in Príncipe's northeast that the Italian chocolatier Claudio Corallo took on and replanted from the 1990s, working with old criollo and forastero stock and fermenting and drying on site to produce beans that go into single-origin chocolate. Tastings run through the process from raw bean to finished bar. The estate sits in forest with the sea below it and the plantings are deliberately shaded.

What you actually see

• The replanted cocoa - the old stock brought back into production from the 1990s.
• The fermentation and drying - the processing done on the estate itself.
• The tastings - the run through from raw bean to finished chocolate.
• The shaded planting - the cocoa grown under forest cover rather than in the open.

When to go

June to September is the drier gravana season. Visits must be arranged in advance. The main harvests fall around the year's two drier periods.

Honest expectations

Visits must be booked ahead and are not run daily. The estate is a commercial operation and tastings end in sales. The road out is rough in stretches.

Nearby

Santo António is southwest, and Pico Papagaio is south.