armonía Wine and dine el pisco tiene que ser limpio y traslúcido, como “plata extraída de las entrañas de los andes...”. JUanita martínez 50 ▼ <strong>Vitis</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l novieMbre 2008 sólo 8 variedades están permitidas para la elaboración de pisco: 4 aromáticas y 4 no aromáticas. de éstas, la más famosa es la quebranta o negra criolla.
las dUnas de ica dientes de la cultura de los paracas, los pishcos, que elaboraban unas hermosas ánforas con cierta reminiscencia de jarrones griegos. en esas mismas vasijas se empezó a guardar más tarde el producto de la destilación de las uvas, el pisco, por lo que esta palabra sirvió para nombrar tanto a los elaboradores como al continente y al contenido. Una rápida mirada al mapa del perú haría pensar que el territorio geográfico en el que se circunscribe la zona pisquera es tremendamente vasto. pero en la práctica, se trata de una gran región, casi desértica, atravesada por algunos riachuelos que sólo traen hilitos de agua provenientes de glaciares cordilleranos. en torno a ellos se forman pequeños valles, muy verdes y llenos de vegetación, que, sumados, no dan una superficie demasiado grande. la corriente de humboldt, que fluye hasta poco más al norte de lima, hace que perú tenga en esa zona arenas secas, frío en las noches y calor en el día en vez del clima tropical que le correspondería por latitud. sin embargo, allí donde hay agua para regar, esas arenas son estupendas para producir uvas pisqueras, de las cuales incluso se pueden obtener hasta the producers, the containers and the contents. a quick glance at the map of Peru might suggest that the area encompassing the pisco-producing zones is very widespread. but in actuality this is a very vast mostly deserted region sprinkled by a few streams carrying elusive ropes of water from mountain glaciers. along them we find small, intensely green valleys with plentiful vegetation, but their added areas are not at all impressive. The Humboldt current, which reaches the area of Lima before turning west, makes this area of Peru a zone of dry sands, cold nights and hot days instead of the tropical weather one might expect given the latitude. However, in those areas with enough water the sand turns into an excellent culture land for pisco grapes, which may even yield two crops every three years. The aim is exactly the opposite as everywhere else in the wine industry, which is mostly driven by high yields to deter concentration, and high brix readings to reach the alcohol degrees desired. HIGH-END PISCOS While some time ago pisco lost some of its popularity among Peruvian consumers (they allegedly envy the amount of liters the chilean domestic market is capable of absorbing), today Peru is determined to restore its status, and therefore it has begun producing it with quality standards that permit to obtain high-end distillates. Luckily enough, because tasting a top-tier pisco equals entering a world of fascinating and sophisticated aromas and flavors that are worth those of any other more renowned tipple. Like its three elder cousins – cognac, armagnac and Xeres brandy – pisco is a noble spirit. it is an “eau de vie de vin” (wine spirit) in whose production there is no room for residues like grape skins, which are used to produce grappa. unlike chilean pisco, Peruvians decided that their pisco should be colorless, limpid and translucent, making it shine with a glow of its own. “silver dug out of the andes depths and diluted in a bain marie…” poetically says Johnny schuler. Hence the criticism of this Peruvian pisco promoter for, among other things, our insistence on keeping both piscos isolated instead of joining efforts with Peru to present this product as “the fine distillate from the new World”. The distillation of Peruvian pisco is a process known in the technical parlance as “distilled to proof”. it begins by discarding the distillation head and tail, using only water to obtain the alcohol content required by law (between 38º and 48º). Therefore, instead of ranking piscos by their alcohol contents as we do in chile, they classify them horizontally, by variety. only eight varieties are permitted: four aromatic and four non-aromatic ones. among the latter, perhaps the most widely recognized is Quebrantal, also known as negra criolla. all these varieties give birth to four large types of pisco: aromatic, non-aromatic, acholado (blends of aromatic and non-aromatic grapes in different proportions) and green musts. Green must is a distillate produced from sweet must, ▼ <strong>Vitis</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> l novieMbre 2008 l 51
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