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La mia passione per il vino

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La mia passione per il vino

Category Archives: Peru

Sketches of the Peruvian wine scene: Quebranta grape, flagship grape of Peru?

21 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by productionslevin in Peru

≈ 3 Comments

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La Central, Peru, PromPeru, Quebrada, Quebranta

I continue to my coverage of my recent gastronomical press trip to Peru. This time, I would like to comment on my recent live experience with some of the Peruvian wines that I had the pleasure to taste in this trip.

Although Peruvian gastronomy is becoming one of the most sophisticated in Latin America, the growth of its national wine industry has not experienced the same pace. There may be several reasons for this phenomenon, the most important being a social and historical factor.

In general, Peruvian are not wine drinkers. They prefer other drinks primarily with their meals such as beer, soft drinks or chicha. However, this state of affairs might be changing as economic conditions are changing in Peru. According to Wikipedia, Peru is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies with a 2012 GDP growth rate of 6.3% It currently has a high human development index of 0.741 and  a per capita GDP above $12,000. Walking in Lima, you can see the examples of growth in their economy. Infrastructure public work, condominiums projects and the restaurants full than ever before in any weekday day. More money also means a more affluent class and this means access to the finer things of life such as wine.

Photo: Marco Giovanetti

Photo: Marco Giovanetti

My first encounter with Peruvian wine was with the local grape Quebrada. This is a very particular grape since it is only grown in Peru. It is produced by Jose Moquillaza. With this grape, he produces a fine red wine, Quebrada de Ihuanco. There is also a pisco distilled from it called inquenbrantable.

The setting of this encounter was at the prestigious restaurant Central restaurant in the hip district of Miraflores.  During a tasting menu, I asked the sommelier Joseph Ruiz Acosta to surprise in a blind tasting with different wines. One of the wines was the Quebranta in disguise.

The Quebranta grape is a natural offspring between the grapes Criolla and Mollar brought by the Spanish conquerors in the year 1540. By prohibitions of the Spanish court in the XVI century, they stopped making wine out of the this grape and they decided to concentrate in Pisco. Now, Peru is resuming the tradition of making wine from this grape.

Quebrada de Ihuanco is a wine that is born from very mineral soilds consisting of Quartz and Granite. The grape is grown in San Juan de Ihuanco, in Cañete . Vinification is very natural and there is no wood intervention to allow to express the primary fruit aromas and flavors of the Quebranta grape.

The grape has gained popularity because its wine has appeared in some on the wine lists of some of the top restaurants of the world, including La Central and El Celler de can Roca.

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The sommelier Joseph Ruiz Acosta, holding a Quebranta bottle in the cellar of La Central

Judging by the colour of the glass, I was sure i was in Pinot Noir territory. Then, the olfactory and taste analysis drove me in another direction. The nose was very perfumed, reminiscent of lots of red berries, ripe to an almost form of jelly or jam…much like a Pinot Noir from the central valley. Then came a blast of floral nuances: dry petal roses, violets, white daysis leaving at the end an animal nuance more like dry meat. At this point, I was going definitely into Jura territory. Poulsard maybe. The mouth was ripe and very balanced. Fresh with nice mineral tones. A mosaic of red fruits complexity that i have never seen before in any wine. Some blackcurrant and earth character with incense notes. It was more like an electric Poulsard.

At this point, I gave up. BOOM!!!, came the surprise when Joseph told me that what i was drinking was a local wine. At that very moment, my peruvian wine horizons expanded.  The Quebranta proved to be very food versatile with the many courses of the tasting menu of La Central.

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Altitude tasting menu at La central

This is a still low production operation. In 2012, Mr Moquillaza along with his partner produced around  480 bottles. In 2013 they made around 1,000 bottles and in 2014 close to 2000 bottles. In conclusion, the Quebranta grape is destined to be the national grape of Peru.

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Peruvian Pisco, beyond the commercial stuff

14 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by productionslevin in Peru, Tasting Notes

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Tags

Mistura, Paca Paca, Peru, PromPeru

image

Photo: Marco Giovanetti

This week, i was in Lima, Peru. The purpose of my trip was to assist at the Mistura 2015 edition. For those that do not know, Mistura is an extensive international gastronomical festival highlighting Peruvian gastronomy.

For today post, i will cover the Pisco scene, which many including myself consider to be the national alcoholic drink of Peru. At the Pisco salon, i was able to taste many high quality varieties of this spirit. After tasting many types, i left without prejudice that this drink can be enjoyed by itself beyond the Pisco Sour.

The name derives from its place of origin, the seaside town of Pisco in southern Peru. Many sources trace back the birth of Pisco, the spirit, to the mid-15th to 16th century, a product of the mission grapes brought by Spanish settlers. The mission grapes adapted to the hot desert climate and developed into eight varieties which is enjoying soaring popularity among sommeliers and mixologists alike.

Authentic Pisco is a clear grape brandy that carries Denominación de Origen protected status, just like wine from Napa Valley or Champagne. definitely. It is truly a spirit with terroir.

The process star like this. Grapes are harvested with a high sugar content, made into wine and then distilled in a copper pot still to a higher alcohol content, from 40 to 45 alcohol %. Nothing is added, not even water. What you get is pure, unadulterated grape spirit. Depending on the grape variety, Pisco has notes of white flowers, spicy white pepper, blueberry or chocolate. And, those aromatic flavors make one hell of a drink. Pisco is unique among other grape based spirits, because they distill right away after the wine bas finished fermentation. In addition, it is made exclusively from must rather than using other grape leftovers such as pipes, seeds or skins.

image

Photo: Marco Giovanetti

Paca Paca, one of the leading Peruvian Pisco producers has received numerous awards in both their domestic and international markets. They craft Pisco from monovarietals from in different parcels on the Ica Valley. Their Torontel de Ocucaje was awarded the prestigious gold medal at the Selections Mondiales des Spiriteux Canada. Their Italia Rosada, Quebranta and Mollar received the silver medal. This is quite an achievement since Paca Paca is relatively new distillery ( 2 years old) compared with their peers.

Photo: Marco Giovanetti

Photo: Marco Giovanetti

My favorite from all the line was the Quebranta displaying aromas of red berries, pink peppercorns with beautiful floral nuances. On the palate, it was round and elegant. I also really enjoyed their Italia Rosa, reminding me of a fine Grappa of Nebbiolo. It displayed a fine nose of petal roses, violets with a fine aroma of strawberry and vanilla bean. On the mouth, it was elegant but more structured than the Quebranta.

The Moscatel was also ravishing displaying wonderful notes of honey, white flowers, wax and vanilla bean. In the mouth, was very suave and smooth. Delicate and round like a good Spanish orujo.

Many thanks to  Maria Cristina Llanos from PromPeru, to allow to discover this wonderful Pisco producer. PromPeru is the Peruvian institution in charge to promote their tourism industry. I was invited by them to cover Mistura 2015.

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Peru and Wine

31 Friday Jul 2015

Posted by productionslevin in Peru

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Peru, South America

Peru does not enjoy the reputation  yet of either Chile or Argentina, and indeed the wine industry is not  near the  high quality and level of development. Yet, the wine industry is a long established one, and some high quality vineyards and wineries do exist. Grapes (mainly Muscat) are also grown for distillation into Peru’s most famous alcoholic product, Pisco. However, some specialized wine people, like Adolfo Hurtado from Cono Sur, think that Peru is the next world big wine region.

Peru’s winemaking legacy began in the 1500s following the Spanish conquest. Peru was the first South American country in which systematic viticulture was actively encouraged, and vines were planted in coastal areas with the majority around Ica, a region just south of Lima. Over the years, pests and politics reduced the country’s vineyards from 125,000 acres in the 19th century to little more than 2,500 acres by the 1980s

There are five different vineyard regions in Peru: the North Coast, the Central Coast, the South Coast, the Andean Sierra and the Selva. Of the 11,000 hectares of vineyards in the country, the most important can be found  in the Central and South Coast where the best known wines, like Tacama, Vista Alegre and Ocucaje are produced.

The coastal region of Peru is basically a  desert, intersected by a series of valleys flowing from the Andes down to the sea.

The best vines are grown in these fertile irrigated areas, which benefit from the cool currents of offshore air that rise up into the vineyards. The essential balance between the humidity and daily contrasts in temperature provide exceptional vine growing conditions.

T In he city of Ica lies within the province of Ica, which is the center of Peruvian wine culture. This is the area where wine grapes were first introduced and many smaller wineries still make use of ancient techniques to produce wines.

The province of Ica is known as an area of sand, sea and oases. Despite its hot and dry climate, Ica has ideal conditions to grow wine grapes. The fields are thoroughly irrigated with water from the Andes and virtually any crop in the world can grow here. Peru’s best wineries are located here and are referred to as “bodegas” which actually means “wineries”. All Peruvian wineries are prefixed with this word; Bodega Tacama, Bodega Ocucaje, etc.

In some ways, Ica (the province) is not just the cradle of Peru’s wine culture but of Peru as a whole. Saints and medicine men are a part of everyday life and this is also where the best Pisco brandy is distilled. Pisco has attained a certain degree of world fame and is considered to be Peru’s national drink. It would be very hard to find a Peruvian winery that doesn’t make Pisco alongside their wines.

Peru’s micro wine production has actually played to their favor though, by allowing them the time to experiment with different blends and wine making techniques without getting a reputation for low or mediocre quality wines. Instead, Peruvian wine exports are arriving  on the  North American market as a seeming newcomer with surprisingly high quality. In fact, you could be forgiven for not even knowing that Peru has a wine industry.

The SAQ has 3 listed products on the Peru section. It is a shame as I hope that this changes soon.  I recently picked  2 bottles for tasting exploration. My tasting notes below as always

Voir la photo agrandie du produit. Cette photo s'ouvre dans une visionneuse et peut comporter des obstacles à l'accessibilité.

Tabernero Gran Tinto Reserve Malbec / Merlot 2012. SAQ Code: 10746746. Price: $14.90

This is a robust and full-flavored wine with an intense, fruity bouquet that recalls spices and black fruits that can be sensed progressively when it is served. Produced using Malbec and Merlot grapes it has  a vigorous structure with its own unique style. It is a good match with red meats, pastas and cheeses. Amazing value at the SAQ. 90\100

Voir la photo agrandie du produit. Cette photo s'ouvre dans une visionneuse et peut comporter des obstacles à l'accessibilité.

Tacama Seleccion Especial 2011. SAQ Code: 00976225. Price: $23.95

On the nose, sweet and jammy aromas of plum jam and cherry. On the mouth, the wine is expansive with a round texture, ending with a sweet finale. Best for meat bbqs. 89\100

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Marco Giovanetti

Wine expert and lover of life's nicest pleasures

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