Piscologia - Blog - Learn Everything About Pisco

July 26, 2019 In PiscoLogía

When to Harvest Pisco Grapes

harvest pisco grapes, pis

Before distillation, Peruvian pisco grapes are first crushed and then fermented to make wine. It is very important to make precise decisions about when to harvest so the grapes have the right amount of sugar, acidity and tannins. Having this balance gives us high-quality wine and pisco. Nati uses both science and intuition to determine if this balance has been achieved.

First, science is used to determine the sugar and pH levels. Nati uses specific measurements to determine that the Brix levels of our Quebranta are between 24°-26° and our Italia between 22°-23°. It is important to obtain the right amount of sugar because yeasts need glucose to convert the juice into wine. Furthermore, as grapes ripen, acidity drops as sugar levels increase. However, we need to maintain certain levels of acidity so the wine is well-rounded. Nati strives for a pH of around 3.2-3.4.

Nati also checks for physiological changes in the vines. This means that the grapes, stems and seeds have the proper coloring. The fruit should be bright and robust and the stems and seeds should be brown, indicating they are ripe.

Finally, she uses intuition when tasting the fruit. The fruit must taste sweet and have good acidity and tannins. Sugar is especially key in pisco production; the more you have, the higher the alcohol content.

Determining when to harvest is an extremely important step in the pisco production process. Perfecting the balance of science and intuition gives us grapes with better flavors and aromas and thus, a well-rounded pisco.

July 26, 2019 In PiscoLogía

Singani vs. Pisco

Singani and pisco are both clear grape brandies that share similar physical attributes. However, when you examine their distillation methods, geographical zones of production, resting techniques, quality classifications and other details, you will find that they are very different spirits. We have listed the differences between Bolivian Singani and Peruvian pisco in the chart below:

Peruvian Pisco	Singani
A brandy made from 1 or a blend of the 8 pisco grapes permitted by the D.O. in Peru.	A brandy made only from Muscat of Alexandria grapes in Bolivia.
Rests in neutral casks a minimum of 3 months.	Rests in neutral casks for a minimum of 6 months.
Must be made in one of the Pisco-producing regions as defined by the D.O. in Peru.	Must be made in one of the Singani-producing regions as defined by the D.O. in Bolivia.
Produced at 2,000m (6,562 feet) or lower from grapes grown at those elevations.	Produced at 1,600m (5,250 feet) or higher from grapes grown at those elevations.
Has both single-variety Piscos (puros) and blends (acholados).	Only single-variety Singanis are produced exclusively from the Muscat of Alexandria grape. No blending with other varieties is permitted.
Linguistic evidence suggests the word “pisco” comes from the native Quechua word “pishqu” (meaning bird).	Linguistic evidence suggests that the word “singani” comes from the native Aymara word “siwingani” (meaning sedge).
Only single distillation permitted.	Usually double distilled and watered down to proof.
No quality classification	Has quality classifications: Singani de Altura Singani Singani de Primera Singani de Segunda
Pomace may never be distilled in Pisco production.	Singani de Primera and Singani de Segunda may be made from the pomace leftovers from winemaking (similar to grappa)
Chilcano Cocktail Ginger ale or ginger beer Lime Pisco	Shoofly Cocktail Ginger ale or ginger beer Lime Singani

Download our Signani vs. Pisco chart here: Singani vs. Pisco

Sources:

Armstrong, Darren. “Singani.” StrongSomm, www.strongsomm.com/singani.

“Singani.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 July 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singani.

July 25, 2019 In PiscoLogía

¿Qué tiene el pisco?

¿Qué tiene el pisco? La respuesta es: uvas. El pisco peruano es un destilado de uvas pisqueras, que son 8 vitis viníferas permitidas por la Denominación de Origen en Perú para la producción del aguardiente. Esas uvas son:

uvas pisco, uvas pisqueras, pisco peruano, piscologia

Para hacer un pisco peruano, el jugo de las uvas se fermenta para hacer un vino. Luego ese vino se destila una vez, por lo general en un alambique de cobre, en el proceso que se explica aquí. La destilación nos da un licor transparente y concentrado, con un porcentaje de alcohol entre 38%-48%.

No se le añade nada al pisco peruano, ni siquiera agua. Eso lo hace muy diferente a otros licores como el pisco chileno o el whiskey, que se destilan más de una vez y luego se les pone agua para bajar el alcohol al porcentaje deseado y los añejan en barrica.

July 24, 2019 In PiscoLogía

Chilcano-The Peruvian Moscow Mule

chilcano, pisco cocktail, peruvian pisco, piscologia

Unrivaled in its simplicity, the chilcano is perhaps Peru’s most iconic cocktail. The origin of this delicious mix of pisco, ginger ale and lime is a mystery. While some believe this famous cocktail has Italian roots, others dispute that notion. We may never know how the chilcano came about, but we can most definitely enjoy its effortless preparation and refreshing, delicious tang.

Here is Kami’s recipe for the chilcano, Peru’s version of the Moscow Mule, which uses ginger beer, giving it a unique spiciness for your enjoyment.

CHILCANO

2 oz PiscoLogía Pisco Acholado

3 Lime wedges

2 dash Angostura bitters

Ginger beer

Muddle lime wedges, build over light ice, top with ginger beer

July 23, 2019 In PiscoLogía

Can you drink pisco straight?

Can you drink pisco straight? Absolutely! In fact, we encourage you to drink pisco straight to appreciate it like a fine wine. To guide you, here are 4 questions you can ask yourself when tasting:

pisco tasting, can you drink pisco straight, piscologia, peruvian pisco

1) What descriptors and characteristics can I identify?

There are more than 300 descriptors for wine. When you distill wine to make pisco, you concentrate those flavors and aromas even more. See if you can pick out different nuances in the pisco. For example, our Quebranta tastes like toasted almonds, pecans and tart green apples. If you’re tasting an Acholado, distinguish the characteristics of each of the blended varieties.

2) How is the terroir of the vineyards expressed in the pisco?

We have discussed the terroir of our vineyards and how it differs from other regions and vineyards in Peru. For example, our pisco has been described as briny, which is due to salinity on the grapes from the Pacific Ocean. Our soils are sandy, which create very different conditions than vineyards in the Andes, where soils are predominantly limestone. Pisco is greatly influenced by terroir, so see if you can appreciate how the conditions of the vineyards influence the flavors and aromas of the brandy.

3) How does the pisco pair with food?

Like wine, the clear Peruvian brandy pairs beautifully with food. We have given you some pairing suggestions in this blog post: https://piscologia.com/pairing-your-favorite-peruvian-food-with-pisco/, but pisco pairings go way beyond Peruvian food. There are endless opportunities with any cuisine. For example, try an Italia pisco in a snifter with Thai curry. You can play around with different varieties and food flavors to see what you like best.

4) Are there certain aspects of this vintage that make it different than others?

Just like wine, the conditions of each harvest vary each year, making every vintage unique. For example, if a year is especially hot, the wine and pisco will have higher alcohol percentages because the grapes will have developed more sugar. Or, if rainy season arrives earlier than expected, the grapes must be harvested early to avoid diseases on the fruit such as botrytis. Sometimes this means that the grapes might not ripen enough, meaning they will have less aromas and flavors.

July 19, 2019 In PiscoLogía

¿Cómo se hace el pisco peruano? El proceso de Destilación

En esta entrada de blog, explicaremos la segunda parte del proceso de producción de pisco: la destilación.

La destilación es un proceso que separa los componentes de un líquido a través de la evaporación y condensación. Para destilar PiscoLogía, Nati usa un alambique de cobre de 300 litros. Como se ve en la foto abajo, tiene forma de caldera con una olla donde se pone el mosto fermentado a destilar. En el caso del pisco peruano, la destilación convierte el vino en aguardiente transparente.

como se hace el pisco peruano, alambique, pisco peruano, piscologia

El alambique se calienta por debajo con un calentador de gas, que nos ayuda a controlar la temperatura de la destilación. Cuando hierve, el líquido empieza a evaporarse. Los vapores suben por el cuello de cisne y entran en un serpentín sumergido en agua, donde se enfrían y se condensan, regresando a su estado líquido.

Siempre hay que eliminar las impurezas al principio y al final del proceso (por ejemplo, el alcohol metílico) para que quede el alcohol de más calidad. Como se sabe, el pisco peruano se destila sólo una vez, así que Nati tiene una sola oportunidad de hacer una destilación perfecta.

July 19, 2019 In PiscoLogía

¿Cómo se hace el pisco peruano?

En esta entrada de blog, explicaremos la primera parte del proceso de producción de pisco: la cosecha y la fermentación.

Buscamos alcanzar una madurez fisiológica completa en las uvas para decidir la fecha de cosecha. Cuando los niveles de Brix llegan a 23°-26° y la fruta tiene un acidez de 3.4PH (gracias a la brisa del Océano Pacífico), nuestras uvas están listas para cosechar, sujeta a que los otros factores estén maduros también (hollejos, semillas y raspones).

Flor y Samuel, quienes nos ayudan a cuidar las uvas, juntan a los miembros de su familia en preparación para la cosecha. Con un pronóstico del tiempo de 28°C y una humedad de 69%, va a ser un día caluroso y bochornoso. Para evitar el calor, empezamos a cosechar a las 5:00 de la mañana.

Para mantener la tradición, cosechamos a mano. Eso nos permite seleccionar cada uva que entra en nuestro pisco.

Se despalillan las uvas

y estrujamos el jugo con los pies para extraer el jugo sin romper las semillas que pueden dar un sabor amargo a nuestro jugo.

Después realizamos un prensado suave para separar el mosto de las partes sólidas

Nati le pone un porcentaje menor de cáscaras al jugo, para asegurar que las levaduras nativas de Azpitia estén presentes. Para lograr una fermentación optima utilizamos las levaduras nativas proveniente de nuestras uvas.

En 7-10 días, el jugo se fermenta y el vino está listo para la destilación, que explicaremos en la siguiente entrada de blog.

July 14, 2019 In PiscoLogía

Craft Pisco, The Consumer and The Community

“Craft” is a term that is over-used and unregulated, making it difficult to differentiate between what is truly craft and what isn’t. We believe PiscoLogía is the quintessential craft pisco because every part of our process is completed through handmade, artisanal practices. To us, our craft methods are important not only because they build the foundation for a premium pisco, but because they provide benefits for those who help make PiscoLogía.

craft pisco, piscologia, peruvian pisco pisco

Our Craft Practices Provide Economic Benefits for the Community

Using human hands to complete every part of our production process means more economic benefits to the community in Azpitia. We do everything by hand, from planting to pruning, to harvesting, crushing and bottling. The more people we require, the more families we provide for.

We also believe the lack of intervention from machines guarantees a higher quality product. For example, hand harvesting allows us to select every grape that goes into our pisco. It also allows us to harvest in small batches so the grapes reach optimal sugar levels to facilitate fermentation with native yeasts.

Positive Environmental Impact

Craft methods applied in the vineyards benefit the environment. We don’t use industrial viticulture methods, fertilizers or excess chemicals, allowing us to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our oceans and rivers. Instead of machines or pumps, we save energy through a system of gravity-flow surface irrigation to collect runoff from the Andes to sparingly irrigate our vines.

Non-Intervention Winemaking

To make a good pisco, you must first start with a good wine. We never use commercial yeasts or enzymes in our winemaking process. Instead, natural ambient yeasts ferment our grape juice. We feel that non-intervention methods provide us with a wine that fully expresses the terroir of our vineyards, something you can taste in every bottle of pisco.

Small Batch

Small batch means that Nati can demonstrate her skill and love of pisco-making with every distillation. Using a 300L copper pot still allows her to control distillation more easily and conserve energy. Every batch is unique and reflects the hard work of everyone who helped make it, the characteristics of the harvest and the artistic skill of Nati.

July 13, 2019 In PiscoLogía

How Strong is Pisco?

Nati Contemplating Measurements During Distillation

According to the Denomination of Origin in Peru, Peruvian pisco must have an alcohol content between 38% and 48%. This makes pisco a hard liquor, like vodka, whiskey, rum and scotch (Types of Alcohol, 2019). Using science and intuition, Nati distills to keep measurements of our pisco at or near 42%. We think her formula maximizes the balance of flavors, aromas and alcohol content of PiscoLogía.

Peruvian pisco is distilled to proof, giving the distiller only one chance to reach the desired alcohol content. Unlike Chilean pisco, which may be distilled more than once and then watered down, nothing may be added to Peruvian pisco. This is one of many reasons why it is an especially unique spirit.

Source:

“What Types of Alcohol Are Considered Hard Liquor?” Alcohol.org, 3 July 2019, www.alcohol.org/statistics-information/hard-liquor/.

July 11, 2019 In PiscoLogía

What does pisco taste like?

pisco taste, what does pisco taste like, quebranta

What does pisco taste like?

Pisco tastes like grapes because it’s a grape brandy (grape juice ferments to make wine, then the wine is distilled to make pisco). There are more than 15 pounds of grapes in every bottle of regular pisco and 33 pounds in a bottle of mosto verde. Naturally, the dominant flavor will be that of the vitis vinifera used to make the pisco. Also, because it rests in neutral vessels after distillation, nothing alters the original flavor of Peruvian pisco, so you can appreciate the concentrated flavors of the fruit in the bottle.

How do the 8 grape varieties of pisco differ in terms of flavor?

Besides flavors and aromas of grapes, you should also note other nuances that are typical to each variety. For example, a Quebranta may taste like pecans, peach or apple (see the example flavor chart above), Albilla might taste like pineapple and Negra Criolla could have notes of raisins and caramel. For more detailed information about the unique flavors and aromas of each variety, check out this blog post: https://piscologia.com/all-the-peruvian-pisco-grapes/

What’s an example pairing with pisco?

Try a Quebranta pisco with suspiro a la limeña, a famous Peruvian dessert. In this combination, the sweetness and creaminess of the suspiro are balanced out with the alcohol from the pisco. It’s a perfect fusion between the sugar in the dessert and the fruitiness of the pisco. If you can’t get your hands on suspiro a la limeña, try a Quebranta with key lime pie. You won’t be disappointed!

Peruvian Pisco

Singani

*Chilcano Cocktail*

*Shoofly Cocktail*

CHILCANO

1) What descriptors and characteristics can I identify?

2) How is the terroir of the vineyards expressed in the pisco?

3) How does the pisco pair with food?

4) Are there certain aspects of this vintage that make it different than others?

Our Craft Practices Provide Economic Benefits for the Community

Positive Environmental Impact

Non-Intervention Winemaking

Small Batch

What does pisco taste like?

How do the 8 grape varieties of pisco differ in terms of flavor?

What’s an example pairing with pisco?

Chilcano Cocktail

Shoofly Cocktail