The Legacy of Pisco: Discoveries, Challenges, and Opportunities
Grateful for the opportunity.
This year, despite all the setbacks, we have fulfilled our duties as an association by participating in every pisco competition we were invited to: district, provincial, and regional. Additionally, we maintained our monthly tastings and supported producers by evaluating their samples upon request. We also celebrated a significant milestone: 10 years of the Peruvian Association of Tasters (ASPERCAT) training tasters and 16 years of accumulated experience through our monthly tastings, documented in the blog nochesdecata.blogspot.com, unique in the world.
Another highlight of this year has been the discovery of documents in the General Archive of the Nation by archivist Julio Hernández, which date back to 1587 and reaffirm the Peruvian origin of pisco. Adding to this, these same documents, including the will of Pedro Manuel “the Greek” (1613), were registered in the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program (MoWLAC). An extraordinary achievement!
A frequently discussed topic is when we began to call pisco by its name. We know the jars used to transport the spirit were called piscos or piskos, which is also the name of the port from which it was shipped. Thanks to research by former Foreign Minister Gonzalo Gutiérrez, we have gone back 102 years in time, to 1712—long before the mention by Englishman William Bennet Stevenson, who wrote in 1814: “The brandy is generally called pisco after the place where it is made...” (Historical and Descriptive Narrative: 20 Years of Residence, W.B. Stevenson).
The most fascinating aspect of this discovery is the cargo manifest of the frigate Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, which arrived from Callao to Mexico in 1712. In the cargo details recorded on December 22 of that year, the shipmaster Juan de Recalde declared he was transporting: “(…) seventy jars of pisco aguardiente, well-conditioned and stored below the hatch of said frigate” (The Denomination of Pisco and Viceregal Trade between Peru and Guatemala, 1712–1715–1742; Gonzalo Gutiérrez).
Another aspect we must not overlook, as a dear friend would say, is the significance of the mojoneros and/or wine and pisco tasters, who were present in Peru as early as the 16th century, in 1567, and have been an essential part of the wine and pisco production chain (Wine and Pisco in the History of Peru, Eduardo Dargent Chamot, p. 41). I am convinced there are more mentions of this noble profession in the manuscripts of the General Archive of the Nation.
Lastly, something that caught my attention in the news and on social media was the swift response of the Chilean Producers’ Association regarding the UNESCO issue. This demonstrates that, in our case, we lack a strong spokesperson for pisco. Producers, the time has come to reactivate the Regulatory Council of the Pisco Designation of Origin (CRDO-PISCO). Count on me for whatever support I can provide! Enjoy pisco responsibly.
By Livio Pastorino Wagner
Sommelier, Specialist, and Pisco Taster
Registration: CRDO-PISCO 2020 RCO-034-2011
@elmagozurdo
Pisco & music
December 2024
Where pisco is the only protagonist!
#lapiscoteca #piscosour #winelover #pisco #pasionporlacata #bar #elpiscoesdelperu #vino #vinosdelperu #pisco #piscolover #Lima #Peru #Moquegua #Tacna #Arequipa #Ica #piscopunch #piscosour #piscotonic #capitan #chilcanodepisco
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