GRAND SOLEIL- (Organic Product)

With the acclimatization of the Spanish grape in our territory in 1530, a new drinking culture was born in the country of Peru: the Pisco.

Pisco is obtained from the distillation of recently fermented grape juice or musts, providing a distinctive taste, emphasizing the fact of being an "eau de vie" pure from its very beginnings. The distillation process of Pisco, created by our ancestors and transmitted from generation to generation, is also typical and unique.

In the 17th century, as stated by different chroniclers and other historical sources, there was an interaction of a propitious land for the cultivation of grape with a technological culture developed in the southern valleys of Peru, where Pisco had its birthplace. The history of Pisco is, therefore, the history of a mixed race group that enriches our culture, which we all recognize as part of our national identity within and beyond the boundaries of Peru.

Located in the Peruvian coast we find a valley, a river, a port and a city named Pisco, since the Colonial period. The relationship between Pisco and the Peruvian geography and toponymy is thus indisputable. The “aguardiente” Pisco, traditional beverage of Peru and “distinguishing product” provides its quality of long lasting lineage and own roots all around the world.

There are five main features distinguishing true Pisco from grape aguardientes made outside Peru. These differences are not intended at prejudging the quality of these aguardientes, but pointing out objectively the existing differences.

The grape variety used as raw material: One of the most important differences between the genuine Pisco and foreign aguardientes is that the grape used for its preparation -artisan and industrial- is not limited to the aromatic grape "Moscatel". Actually, the emphasis is put on the flavor or in the aroma. This is why the most common grape types are "Quebranta" (a typically Peruvian mutation) and, in less percentage, the Normal Black and the Mollar, which are non-aromatic varieties.

Non-rectification of steams: The distillation process used for preparing Pisco is carried out in distilleries or small stills of non-continuous operation, not in continuous distilleries. Thus, the constituting elements of the genuine Pisco will not be removed at the time of rectifying steams produced at its distillation.

Time between fermentation of musts and distillation process: According to the definition of Pisco, this beverage is obtained from the distillation of recently fermented "fresh" musts. This type of process avoids recently fermented musts to remain stagnant for several months before being distilled or used for mature wines. Nowadays, distilleries for preparing Pisco should meet the requirements required by the Committee of Supervision of Technical Regulations, Metrology, Quality Control and Tariff restrictions of the National Institute for the Protection of Intellectual Property and Free Competition (INDECOPI).

No aggregate is included: In Peru, the distillation process is not suspended until obtaining the alcoholic Pisco at levels of 42° - 43° degrees Gay-Lusac. No distilled or treated water is added with the purpose of changing its consistency, color and other features that make it a distinctive product.

Process to obtain the established alcoholic content: When distillation of fresh musts starts, the alcoholic contents of the distilled product is high, reaching 75° degrees Gay-Lusac approximately. As the process continues, the alcoholic content decreases, thus, allowing other constituting elements of Pisco to make up the brandy. According to the skills and tradition of the Peruvian "pisquero", this process lasts until the alcoholic content decreases to about 42° or 43°,sometimes decreasing to 38° degrees Gay-Lusac.

Our business started 18 years ago as a closely regarded family business in the Southern Valleys of Peru . In the province, department of Ica. We have approximately 200 Hectares of land mostly dedicated to vineyards and the growing of carefully selected grapes in very special varieties.

We use these selected grapes to elaborate our very own traditional Pisco, which is a grape brandy with a tradition of close to 400 years in Peru. Our various products and brands such as “Buena Cosecha” and “Quebranta “have been in our markets for several years now, proving to be an excellent product, well known for it’s unique aroma and body.

Two years ago we started planting some selected fruits in our lands and achieving unique varieties of Lucuma, Chirimoyas and Peaches.

We started to develop the idea and desire of producing a unique blend of such variety of fruits and using only the real pulp of the fruits and creating a blend with our Pisco. The result after almost one year of research, trials and developments was a Superb, Creamy and Luscious Blend where all the natural characteristics, aromas and colors of the fruits were maintained in the blend, and our Pisco surfaced in a very subtle manner, making it’s presence but without overpowering the aroma and taste of our delicious fruits.

Other fruits were also acquired from other natural regions of our country such as The Mango, Algarrobina, Strawberry and our Passion fruit.

Some of these fruits come from our Highlands and others from our Amazonic areas. We do a very careful selection of our fruits by visiting constantly our various growers and supervise the whole process in the fields. We obtained the same expected results with these fruits when blended with our Pisco. Superb, unique and an exotic variety of Creams.

We have now under development additional flavors such as Pineapple, Cantaloupe or Melon, Cranberry and Soursop.

We have now destined more of our lands to the growing of our fruits in the hopes and expectations of being able to produce more of our special blends. It is a unique and very much a natural product and that makes the availability limited.

Our products became a success in our own market and it is being purchased by all the main Stores as well as the upper- end Hotels, restaurants, bars, liquor and gift shops.

Served over crushed ice or simply by refrigerating the bottle and drinking it cold, it is a unique experience. The aromas linger and the flavor of the blend will be remembered always.

OUR PISCO

The first vineyards in the Viceroyalty of Peru were planted in the fertile coastal valleys of Peru shortly after the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors. The Marquis Francisco de Caravantes was the first to import grapes, bringing them from the Canary Islands in 1553.

The oldest written historical record of grape brandy production in the Spanish colonies date back to Peru 1613. It is the will of a resident of the department of Ica a town call Pisco close to the nazca lines named by Pedro Manuel the Greek. In it he itemizes his worldly goods, including 30 containers of grape brandy, one barrel of the same spirit, a large copper pot and all of the utensils needed to produce pisco. They named Pisco like the town in the department of ica in the cost of Peru. This was considered a lesser beverage by the Spanish and not consumed by them unless they were poor or simply curious. However, one vineyard owner decided to designate an area of his lands exclusively to this brandy (which did not yet have a name, although it is reported the Spanish called it firewater). The drink began to acquire consumers in the sailors that transported products between the colonies and Spain, who began to call it pisco, naming it after the port where it could be bought. The drink then became a favorite of sailors and workers who visited the port of Pisco, exalting it for its strong taste and ability to quickly affect the consumer. As trade from Peru to the world grew, so did the popularity of pisco, until it almost equaled wine in quantity as an export. In 1641, wine imports from Peru into Spain were banned, severely damaging the wine industry in the colony; only a few vineyards that had parallel wine and pisco operations survived this change. Those that did began to concentrate on pisco production, nearly eliminating wine production in Peru. During the 18th and 19th centuries, pisco was a mainstay on ocean-crossing vessels, drunk mostly by sailors, as crew usually drank whisky or other finer spirits. The main reasons for its heyday were the low price and high availability. This position was maintained by pisco until the onset of rum, which won over consumers with lower prices and a softer flavor. Pisco was also briefly popular in San Francisco and nearby areas of California during the Gold Rush in the 19th century, where it was introduced by Peruvian miners.

The origins of the word pisco can be traced to the Quechua language where the birds that inhabited the valleys of the Ica region were called pisqu (or any of: pisco, pisku, phishgo, pichiu, pisccu depending on the orthography). The valley that was later to be named Pisco was settled by people who, during the Inca Empire were to become known as piskos. One of the main products they provided were the containers used to store beverages. These containers were also known as piskos. The first grape brandy to be produced was stored in piskos, and as time went by, the beverage came to be known by the name given to its container. After the South American independence period, vineyards whose main product was pisco were located solely in what was then Peru, due to geographical and political divisions left by the Spaniards. However, during the War of the Pacific, Peru was effectively defeated and became an occupied nation, until the Treaty of Ancon in 1883 ceded the desert area of Tarapaca to Chile; this desert area was used to produce a pisco adapting the Peruvian techniques.

In the occupation years, the attempts by Chile to convert the people of the occupied territories to Chilean sentiments, combined with the constant uprisings by Peruvian nationalists led to a severe disruption in pisco production in the entire Atacama region. It was not until several years later, in 1929, that definitive boundaries were established and the situation began to calm. In the newly conquered Pica and Pozo Almonte oasis of Tarapaca, the Chilean government ban the production of wine due to the high grade of Peruvianity (some Peruvian presidents had links with the wine production there), so the oasis changed the production to fruits instead. It was also seen as a war for the wine production in the southern hemisphere. Since then Chiles Central Valley has had the biggest wine production in the southern hemisphere. In the years between the 1880s and the 1940s, pisco production was severely hampered in Peru due to the national reconstruction taking place and the widespread misery due to the destruction of the nation's production, military and political infrastructure; and in Chile because of the aforementioned instability in the region. Pisco production began to expand once again in the 1940s, thanks to economic and social stability in the country, mainly due to its copper and gold exports.

One of the early producers of pisco was started by two cousins from Italy, Pedro Raggio and Francisco Queirolo. After the death of Pedro Raggio and later his brother Vittorio Raggio, the Queirolo family took over and still today manufacture the pisco and wine product in the city of Magdalena. Many Peruvians agree that Queirolo pisco excels all other piscos. Production ramped up and Peru began to export pisco as a national product at that time, however, due to the nation's focus on raw materials exports, pisco was not given much prominence. National sentiment began to flare up in the 1960s when Chile decided to ban all imports of any product denominated pisco coming from Peru.

From that time on, Peru has been constantly trying to enforce the denomination of pisco as a Peruvian-only product, beginning at first with internal rules and regulations pertaining to the harvesting of grapes, distillation and storage requirements for a product to be named pisco, and finally establishing trademarks and other legal processes. Peru has presented an application for international registration in the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), according to the Lisbon Agreement (23 countries parties). After one year from the date of receipt of the application, the protection of the appellation of origin takes effect in all member countries of the Lisbon Union that have not rejected it [1]. Chilean Pisco Aviador Etiquette from 1915The black grape taken to Peru by the Spanish suffered due to its adaptation to soil and weather conditions in the province of Pisco, eventually stabilizing in a new variety named Quebranta, purportedly named because the original grape was broken (Spanish quebrar), or tamed, for its new environment. Almost all early pisco was produced from this variety of grape. Others used any grape available at the time, however, since only the largest vineyards (and those with dedicated pisco distilleries) were able to produce exportable volume, Quebranta was the only variety exported, since it was the preferred grape for pisco production. In the years following the re-establishment of pisco production, many grapes were used to produce pisco, leading to a wide variation in flavor, aroma, viscosity and appearance of the liquor. This harmed attempts to export the product under a single denomination since there could be enormous differences between the contents of bottles sold as pisco. As such, a number of regulations were established to counteract this situation and set a baseline for a product to carry the name.

Four levels of pisco were thus designated:

Pure, made from a single variety of grape, mostly Quebranta, although Mollar or Common Black can be used; however, no blending between varieties is accepted (pure pisco should contain only one variety of grape).

Aromatic, made from Muscat or Muscat-derived grape varieties, and also from Italia and Torontel grape varieties; once again, the pisco should only contain one variety of grape in any production lot.

Green Must, distilled from partially fermented must, this must be distilled before the fermentation process has completely transformed sugars into alcohol

Acholado (Half-breed), blended from the must of several varieties of grape. The order is not established on quality, it is simply listed in that way in Peruvian publications. Some other specific restrictions of note are: Aging: pisco must be aged for a minimum of three months in vessels of glass, stainless steel or any other material which does not alter its physical, chemical or organic properties. Additives: no additives of any kind may be added to the pisco that could alter its flavor, odor, appearance or alcoholic proof.

Pure pisco is a very viscous liquid, slightly more so than vodka and comparable to Sambuca. It has an odor which is vaguely reminiscent of reeds. Its flavor is very smooth and almost non-alcoholic, which can be very deceptive, with the result that many first-time drinkers often drink to excess and can quickly become inebriated without noticing. Some people consider it heresy to mix pure pisco with anything else, and it is generally accepted that it should be drunk alone, even to the exclusion of ice. Aromatic is rarely seen nowadays, as its production has almost ceased in Peru, since according to Peruvian specifications, some Chilean pisco would be classified as aromatic, provided that the restriction of 'no additives' is obeyed.

See the Chilean pisco section for more information. Green Must is generally seen in high income environments. Its grape taste is very strong, as is its fruity perfume. Acholado is gaining popularity due to its sweetness, both in odor and flavor, making it a favorite for Pisco sour, a mixed drink. The acholado variety is also preferred due to its kick, which can be felt immediately after drinking, one can literally feel the drink making its way to the stomach.