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Pisco / Feature Articles

By Manuel Cadenas Mujica
For nochesdecata.blogspot.com

Controversial work of the Association of Independent Tasters: over two hundred samples of the national drink bought in stores have undergone the critical eye of the tasters and the results have not been the most flattering for almost half of these.

To us – Pisco lovers – to love Pisco is, above everything, to prioritize it. After that, to spread the word, to let everyone know about its greatness wherever we go. But also – and maybe this hasn’t been considered much – to be honest with Pisco so that it will be honest with us too. This ultimate love test is the counterpart of Juanita Martínez’s Pisco philosophy: “Pisco’s main ingredient is honesty.”

Be honest with Pisco? Is it not enough to drink it and spread the word? Reality shows us that it is not. Just like it used to be necessary to zealously guard the territory of what Pisco is and to fight the adulteration that damaged it for so long, it is now indispensable to preserve this ideal purity, this legacy of fineness and quality that distinguishes it when it is well made, with dedication and care, knowledge and wisdom.

But today that we are in love with Pisco and we do not tolerate any attack or pretension against its integrity, we find it difficult to understand the work of those who have bravely taken on the challenge of being honest with our "firewater."

Every Thursday, with commendable perseverance, four undeniable Pisco lovers get together to render tribute to the national drink with their five senses alert, assessing the production of Pisco.

Gladys Romaní, Livio Pastorino, Arturo Inga and Lucero Villagarcía are four Pisco tasters who graduated from the Wine and Pisco Institute of San Martín de Porres University and decided a year and a half ago to carry out a systematic and independent taste of every Pisco available in the country. In the beginning, other fellow graduates joined them but only four remain now because they insisted that nobody could have any sort of link to a Pisco winery.

Formal Work
No producers or marketers or consultants or any other relationship with the productive sector of Pisco: the first guarantee of an objective, disinterested and impeccable job. This is how the Independent Pisco Tasters Association that publishes the blog “Noches de Cata” was born.

The second guarantee is just as important: they only taste those Piscos that they purchased in stores. Although they also receive samples from wineries, the result of these tastes is not published on the blog.

Every now and then they have guests, like me, who participate in their tastes. I have witnessed first-hand the seriousness with which these four musketeers have taken on a job that is not always understood or well received, especially by those who feel offended or threatened by a low score. But those are the rules: tastes are generally blind; there is no contemplation of brands or fame.

“We do a very formal work. First we establish a strain and we look to taste every Pisco made with this strain that is available in the market. Then we buy the bottles. We also receive samples of producers who want to know our opinion. To us, it is important which Piscos are purchased and which are received as samples. Finally, we make sure to count with two guests: a taster or producer and an enthusiast,” explains Lucero Villagarcía. It is the dream of many Pisco lovers: it has been demanded for years that the samples in the regional and national contests be purchased at supermarkets or specialized stores instead of having them sent by the producers because those are “prepared” for the occasion.

That is how challenging this association’s job is, that is how necessary it is during these times to be sincere on the subject of quality. Nobody wants to see the effort of many be threatened by the irresponsibility of a few. So pay close attention to the results of these samplings because, according to Lucero Villagarcía’s article in Dionisos No. 72, the results show that a big number of Piscos in the market do not pass the test.

“We are an independent source of information for wineries so that they can have a professional and objective evaluation of their Pisco and make them permanently better. And for those that are doing a great job, we recognize their effort and quality. We are also a source of information for consumers because, as we have detected, the percentage of flawed Piscos almost reaches 50%.” 

Threat to no one
To the date, the Association has over 200 tasted and registered Piscos. The producers always read the results because they send comments of all kinds.

“Some admire the initiative; others, naturally do not agree with the published scores but we welcome all comments. And of course, the consumers read us too; they are our encouragement. We are motivated by the desire to promote the consumption of good Pisco.”

Criticism is the natural reaction of many Pisco lovers and it is unavoidable; it is part of the game. But what does seem really strange and absurd is that there are some Pisco related institutions that consider it a “threat” to the sector that these scores are published because, supposedly, they attack the development and image of Pisco. As if Robert Parker was accused of jeopardizing wine all around the world for grading it in the Wine Enthusiast.

“It has to be noted that we are completely independent tasters. We are not producers or marketers nor do we have any interest beyond making good Pisco well-known. Our job is totally well intentioned, with the only purpose of helping to improve Pisco quality because if we have more demanding consumers, the producers will find themselves forced to improve the quality.”

Nobody can doubt the love that Lucero and her colleagues of the Association feel for Pisco. She teaches about the benefits of Pisco and tasting in various institutions (Pachacutec cooking school, haute cuisine diploma of Piura University and Pacifico University). She has also promoted Pisco on her own in Buenos Aires and Quito. “I held a luxury tasting in each place with good quality Pisco made from different strains and of different brands.”

Nevertheless, Lucero insists on something that is essential to Pisco lovers and those involved with it that should be understood and internalized.

“I am convinced that there is no finer firewater than Pisco. But we must not insist that a Pisco is good for the mere fact of being Peruvian; we must abandon the idea that Pisco is synonym of quality. It is not if it is not well elaborated. Defending the indefensible, instead of helping, jeopardizes the development of Pisco.”

Despite it all, Pisco is more than an incentive to keep working and getting better. “We want to do a more professional work. For example, we have already implemented the blind tastings but we know that we still have some limitations that we will fix with time. Besides, we would also like to do a better job promoting this drink and making guided tastes with Pisco of different brands and strains. Our national drink deserves it.” We, who love Pisco, thank it.

Translated by Diana Schwalb