{"id":6058,"date":"2024-07-15T22:13:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T22:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/liviopastorino.com\/?p=6058"},"modified":"2024-07-16T01:43:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T01:43:19","slug":"nuevos-testimonios-sobre-el-pisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/liviopastorino.com\/en\/nuevos-testimonios-sobre-el-pisco\/","title":{"rendered":"New Testimonies About Pisco"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New Testimonies About Pisco<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Placeres Magazine,<\/a> edition No 05, grateful for the opportunity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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An excellent piece of news we received in May was the discovery of two documents by archivist Julio Hern\u00e1ndez of the National Archives. The first document from 1587 shows a discussion or dispute between two potential partners in Ica, Manuel de Azante and Jorge Capelo. Manuel de Azante requests Jorge Capelo return \"a large amount of aguardiente and wine\" provided to the company. In turn, Capelo asks for the return of his still and other goods (AGN, May 2024). This discovery takes us 26 years before the will of Pedro Manuel \u2018El Griego,\u2019 which dates back to 1613. It is interesting because this will also mentions \"a large copper still for making aguardiente with its lid and cannon\" (Chronology of Wine & Pisco Production 1548-2010, Lorenzo Huertas V.) or a falca, as we call it today.

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The second document dates back to 1583 and mentions that \"Crist\u00f3bal Martin Escacena pledged to pay Enrique Figueroa 300 botijas of aguapi\u00e9 for the first harvest of 1584, which would be delivered at the foot of the press,\" Villa de Valverde (Ica), 11\/05\/1583 (AGN, May 2024). We understand that aguapi\u00e9 is a wine made by adding water to pressed grape pomace (RAE). Since the document does not specify whether the aguapi\u00e9 would be used to make wine or aguardiente, we cannot confirm that our spirit was already being produced in 1583.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I would also like to mention another important year, 1567. According to historian Eduardo Dargent in his book \"Wine and Pisco in the History of Peru\" (p. 41), \"Mojoner\u00eda or wine tasting is necessary to control quality.\" This corroborates that wine inspectors or tasters have been present in Peru since 1567, being an indispensable part of Peruvian viticulture.<\/p>

Talking with pisco enthusiast friends, they said, \"It would have been a home run if it read: 'many botijas of pisco,' which would settle the matter, right?\" As the song goes, \"you can't always get what you want.\"
Remember, pisco is a Quechua word meaning bird. Why are they called botijas de pisco? Because they were shipped from the port of Pisco. It doesn't necessarily mean pisco was exported in those years; we still don't know for sure.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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This brings to mind another topic: when did they start calling them botijas de pisco or just pisco? When we study the history of pisco, we are told that in 1814, William Bennet Stevenson, an English writer and traveler, visited and noted: \"The brandy is generally called pisco after the place where it is made...\" (Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years' Residence, W.B. Stevenson). This was the earliest known date for the use of the word pisco to refer to our flagship spirit. However, thanks to research by former Foreign Minister Gonzalo Guti\u00e9rrez, we go back 102 years to 1712, before Stevenson's mention. A cargo manifest of the frigate Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de la Soledad, which arrived from Callao to Mexico in 1712, was found.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the cargo details or ship\u2019s log, dated December 22, 1712, Master Juan de Recalde declared the following about the property being transported: \"(...) having on board below the deck of said frigate, in a dry and well-conditioned part of it, seventy botijas of aguardiente de Pisco\" (The Denomination of Pisco and the Viceroyalty Trade Between Peru and Guatemala 1712-1715-1742; Gonzalo Guti\u00e9rrez).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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For now, according to these documents, we can assert that by 1712, we were already calling it pisco. This only confirms why we say pisco is the spirit of Peru. Always with responsibility.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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By Livio Pastorino Wagner\nSommelier, Specialist, and Pisco Taster\nRegistration: CRDO-PISCO 2020 RCO-034-2011\n
@elmagozurdo<\/a>

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Placeres Magazine,<\/a> No. 05 july 07, 2024<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Pisco & music<\/p>