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Raw materials/Variety/Race
Pisco DO is grape eau-de-vie that is obtained exclusively from the processing of the Vitis vinifera variety of grapes, better known as uvas pisqueras, fermented for a short while. The word derives from the quechua language, pisscu, which means bird, and which indicates both the name of a very fertile valley south of Peru and of the population that lived in the area (Pisko, ancient Paracas civilization).
Method of working/Cultivation/Breeding
to obtain the Peruvian Pisco DO, it is allowed to use only aromatic uvas pisqueras varieties (Moscatel, Albilla y Torontel) and not aromatic grapes (Quebranta, Negra Criolla, Mollar y Uvina) denominated and cultivated in specific production areas. After a careful selection of the grapes, the fruits are fermented in special barrels. The process of fermentation can be done without maceration or with partial or total maceration of the grape. With the exception of green Pisco DO, the just fermented must has to be left to rest for at least three months in a glass container, stainless steel or other materials that do not alter the organoleptic and physic-chemical characteristics of the product. The fermented product is placed in a vat for direct and discontinuous distillation inside machines made exclusively of tin or copper. The must is heated inside the falca, a container that contains a tube (cañon) from which the distillate comes out. The risen vapors from the warming of the must pass through a tube called cuello di cigne, (swan's neck), arriving at a cooling coil or condenser covered by a refrigerating element, generally water. In this way an alcohol concentration of 75% is obtained. To soften the taste, the distillate is left for some time in American oak or rauli barrels. The obtained product is bottled in a sterilized glass container or ceramics or other materials that do not alter the product's characteristics. Pisco DO must have an alcohol content between 38°C and 48°C. On the label the variety of grape and the bottling location must be specified.
Aspect and Taste
Pisco DO has to be free of foreign odours, colours and tastes caused by contaminating or artificial agents, not belonging to the raw matter used. The Pisco DO does not have to contain toxic impurities which can cause harm to the consumer. Depending on the grape variety used or of the different production process, different varieties can be obtained: Pure Pisco DO from non aromatic grapes, Pure Pisco DO from aromatic grapes, Acholado Pisco DO, or Pisco Green Must DO.
Production Zone
The production area of Pisco DO is located along the coast of the regions of Lima, Ica, Arequipa, Mosquegua and the valley of Locumba, Sama and Caplina of the department of Tacna in Peru.
History
The first attestations of the Pisco production go back to 1586. The Misceláneas Antárticas by Miguel Cabello de Balboa mentions the vineyards from the Yumay Pisco valleys, from whose fruits the traditional Peruvian drink was made.
Gastronomy
Pisco is used to prepare the Peruvian traditional national cocktail Pisco sour, with Pisco DO, ice cubes, sugar and lemon. The Pisco DO is also drunk straight, the so-called trago corto, which means drinking it with small sips, keeping it in the mouth for some moments to appreciate its aroma. In Peru, it is also used in cooking such as in the cannelloni recipe with black sepia and crab with Pisco DO aroma.
Marketing
The product is sold as Pisco DO. It can be sold in black bottles with images of ancient Inca kings, but today it is found more and more in regular glass bottles to avoid that the liquid absorbs foreign aromas and tastes.
Distinctive features
The Pisco DO has obtained the Peruvian designation of origin from 1990 and the Peruvian government has instituted from 2004 the national day of the Sour Pisco, celebrated the first Saturday of February.