Chile: Pisco producers aim to make their vineyards a UNESCO heritage

Chilean producers of pisco, a liquor made from the distillation of wine, are preparing to nominate three pisco valleys in the north of the country as UNESCO Cultural Heritage of Wine, with the aim of relaunching the product internationally and attracting more tourists, which will boost the economy in these regions.

Fish farmers from the Elqui, Limari and Choapa valleys reached an agreement on Friday at a summit held in the city Mountain Patria in the Coquimbo region with representatives of the Chilean government, politicians, local authorities and other civil society actors to join forces in the nomination.

If applying to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are bearing fruit, the Andean foothill valleys of the Coquimbo region (north) will be the first in the Americas to be declared a wine cultural landscape, along with areas with wine-producing traditions such as French Burgundy and Champagne.

INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE

“The candidacy requires the mobilization of the public and private sectors, understanding of all sectors, this is something holistic that seeks to promote the entire territory, a very interesting option for the region and for the entire region. Chile”, Pablo Lacoste, the man in charge of the historical investigation into the candidacy of the pisqueros, assured EFE.

“It includes all sectors, thinking about the entire territory, promoting production chains, valuing gastronomy, Attraction, original cities, craft, art, cultureadded the historian.

Declaring pisco valleys landscape wine culture this would make the spirits more visible on the international market than at present, which could attract more tourists to the region; The goal of the actors involved is to structure the pisco areas with the most economic activity in order to anchor the local population.

fishermen will lead to UNESCO declaration of their valleys wine cultural landscape in 2023, after completion of the documentation work started in 2021 historical heritagearchitectural and cultural associated with the production of pisco.

RELATED TO TRADITION

The Elqui, Limari and Choapa valleys are located in the north Chile, in the arid zone at the gates of the Atacama Desert and on the slopes of the Andes; The warm and sunny climate makes the grapes sweeter than in other areas of the country, which is an important characteristic for the production of pisco distillate.

The narrow arid valleys of the foothills are colored green at the lower levels, irrigated by narrow streams that make possible the agricultural tradition of these areas, which was established even before the colonization of the country by Europeans.

This is the case of the Waqar pisco shop run by the family Camposano and located in the commune of Monte Patria, which produces limited edition artisanal pisco that costs more per bottle than its more commercial equivalents; Its distillery dates back to the middle of the 19th century, and although it had already suffered interruptions, the current generation has revived the family tradition.

Half of Vakar’s production goes abroad, mostly to Europe, and he even won a prize at a London cocktail competition for a recipe made using his distillate. “These valleys made pisco famous 100 years ago and are still valued today for their tradition and great contribution to the quality of pisco,” Waqar founder Jaime Camposano told EFE.

fisherman uses his sensory experience to get the product he is looking for through a process that changes slightly each time it is repeated; It is an artisanal technique from the selection of raw materials to the final bottling.

For Camposano, declaring the valley where Vacar, Limari is located, a wine cultural landscape “would not only be a reward”, but also “the end of a very long history” of the formation of pisco valleys as wine producers.

“We are still tied to territory and tradition; here is the equipment used by my grandfather, my great-grandfather, the place where they distilled,” concludes Camposano.

EFE