No Grand Medals at the 2025 Regional Competition: The New Tasting Sheet
Placeres magazine edition 27 may 07 grateful for the opportunity.
Another important topic I would like to address is the new scoring system and the handling of the tasting sheet. It is essential to practice with the new sheet and become familiar with the new scoring methodology. With the previous tasting sheet, I remember that those of us trained as Pisco Specialists and Tasters at the Wine and Pisco Institute of the Universidad San Martín de Porres (Idvip) were often told during the first national competitions we participated in: “You score too low.” We were not giving pisco the value it deserved. Our response was always: “It’s our training.”
Moreover, for us, having a Denomination of Origin is not just any title. We have the responsibility to demonstrate that we are offering a unique distillate—the best in the world. That is why we were very strict with the standards: piscos that showed even slight defects were penalized in the scoring. The previous sheet allowed us to do so. We tried not to stray too far from the range of the other tasters (always within ±7 points) and we did not disqualify a pisco with less than 70 points, unless it clearly was not pisco (suspended particles, yellowish or bluish color, etc.).
In some piscos, we perceived unruly aromas in the nose, pungency, or alcoholic aggressiveness. The same occurred on the palate: disjointed and lacking balance, although without serious defects. We used to call these “young piscos.” These samples did not reach the scores required to advance. Let us remember that national competitions are divided into two stages: first, the piscos are evaluated by region. With the previous sheet, those that advanced to the national competition had to score 80 points or higher (bronze medal). Today, the minimum to advance is 85 points (silver medal). In the national competition, the samples are evaluated again from zero; it is a new contest with different tasters.
With the new tasting sheet, our scores have generally increased, which is not necessarily a bad thing as long as the pisco shows no defects. The previous sheet gave us more room to decide the score, sometimes being unfair or, on the contrary, too lenient. The new one is more demanding: we must concentrate on the sample and on each item, as the sheet itself guides us toward the score it deserves. We know that in the Purity (Aroma) category, if the sample has no defects, it receives the maximum score. Should it always be this way? Or can we consider that it does not deserve 10 points, but 9? Yes, that is still possible. In tasting, there are no absolutes: everything is open to discussion.
In the 2025 competition, during the first regional stage, not a single Grand Medal was awarded. What was the reason? Especially since the five expert tasters at the table were all from pisco-producing regions and, in addition, they were informed for each sample of the region, the type of pisco, and the grape variety… In my opinion, it was mainly due to some tasters’ lack of practice with the new tasting sheet and the new scoring system. This situation is not new. Already in 2019, with the previous sheet and scoring system, producers were asking why no Grand Medal had been awarded at the national competition. Precisely in an interview that year, the same observation was made to me.
This confirms what happened at the national competition. At the request of the president, the tasters were rotated, some table coordinators were changed, and immediately the Grand Medals appeared. What’s more, at my table, two tasters from regions outside Lima suggested to me, on two occasions (once the sessions had ended), to slightly raise their scores in order to award two Grand Gold Medals. According to the comments of the majority at the table, those piscos deserved it.
In tasting, it is always on the nose that we first perceive the virtues and rule out the defects of a distillate. What we find on the nose must prevail on the palate. Nose and palate must show us balance and harmony. With the new tasting sheet, tasters have more work to do: not only to evaluate, but also to demonstrate why we score in a certain way and how we reached that conclusion. That is why my sensory analysis professors demanded that we not only say “citrus aroma,” but specify which citrus the aroma we perceived reminded us of. “Tasting is active; drinking is passive (you drink to quench your thirst without paying attention). Tasting is the same thing, but paying attention.” Enjoy pisco responsibly.
Til next time!
By Livio Pastorino Wagner
Sommelier, Specialist, and Pisco Taster
Registration: CRDO-PISCO 2020 RCO-034-2011
@elmagozurdo
Placeres magazine No. 27 mayo 07 del 2026
Pisco & music
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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