The Wine Reference🍷 SupportElqui Valley: Chilean pisco
Photo: David Vives on Unsplash
Chile's pisco country in the dry north, where high sun and clear skies give very aromatic grapes.
How it's made
Chilean pisco can be diluted to strength and may be aged in wood, giving golden styles alongside clear ones.
Mainly Muscat grapes and Pedro Jiménez are fermented into wine and distilled, often in copper pot stills or column stills. The spirit is usually reduced with water to bottling strength.
History
Grape spirits have been made in northern Chile since Spanish colonial times. Chile protected the name pisco for its northern regions in 1931, and in 1936 the village of La Unión in the Elqui valley was renamed Pisco Elqui.
Ageing and label terms
Clear piscos are rested in steel or glass, while golden ones age in wood, often American oak or local raulí. Labels show strength: Pisco Corriente o Tradicional (from 30%), Especial (from 35%), Reservado (from 40%) and Gran Pisco (from 43%).
Styles
Aromatic clear piscos from Muscat, and smoother golden piscos aged in wood.
Rules and protected names
Pisco Chile is a protected denomination of origin covering the Atacama and Coquimbo regions, which include the Elqui valley. Peru and Chile both use the name, which leads to trade disputes over labels.
How to serve and classic cocktails
Pisco Sour, or Piscola with cola and ice, Chile's favourite mixed drink.
With food
Good with ceviche, empanadas, seafood and fried snacks; golden pisco suits dried fruit desserts.
Good to know
The valley's clear dry skies also attract astronomers, and pisco distilleries sit among vineyards at the foot of the Andes.
Producers
- Capel
- Mistral
- ABA
Bottles to try
Kappa Pisco
Very aromatic: orange blossom, rose, peach, lychee and a clean, dry finish.
Strength: 42.5% · Age and cask: Unaged
Created by the family behind Grand Marnier and Casa Lapostolle, Kappa is made from Muscat grapes grown high in the Elqui Valley. The name comes from the Greek letter for the Southern Cross constellation, which is easy to see in the clear Elqui skies.
Serve: In a Pisco Sour or with tonic
ABA Pisco Reservado
Floral Muscat nose, fresh grape and citrus, clean and gently sweet.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: Unaged
A family pisquera in Vicuña, at the heart of the Elqui Valley, distilling aromatic Muscat grapes grown under the clear desert skies of the Coquimbo region.
Serve: With ginger ale and lime as a Piscola-style highball, or in a sour
Pisco Mistral Nobel Reservado 40
Muscat perfume, dried fruit and a light touch of oak and vanilla.
Strength: 40%
From the Mistral distillery in the village of Pisco Elqui, named after the Nobel-winning Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, who was born in the valley. A wood-aged Chilean pisco from Moscatel grapes.
Serve: Neat, or with ginger ale in a Piscola-style highball
Also a wine region: Elqui Valley wine guide.
More brandy regions
Explore all spirits in the interactive guide
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