Peru wins a round in its battle with Chile for pisco's heritage

At the end of 2024, UNESCO acknowledged the authenticity of manuscripts dating back to the Spanish colonial period, which mention grape alcohol production in the Andean country as early as the 16th century. This provides an opportunity to reignite a cultural and commercial battle with Chile, which also lays claim to the designation.

By  (Lima (Peru) correspondent)

Published on January 31, 2025, at 4:55 am (Paris), updated on January 31, 2025, at 7:49 am

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LETTER FROM CUZCO

In Peru, on December 20, 2024, UNESCO certified the authenticity of a collection of manuscripts, letters, sales registers and other official records from the early Spanish colonial era, dating between 1587 and 1613. The news has sparked celebration, given that these are the oldest known documents to date confirming the production and trade of pisco in the Andean country as early as the 16th century.

Preserved by Peru's national archives and rescued from oblivion through a restoration process, the manuscripts have been added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register and praised for their testimonial value because "they have an enormous historical, social and cultural significance" and "contextualize the beginnings of grape cultivation, wine and brandy production that occurred in parallel with the Spanish colonization process." They also recount the long history of this spirit, now a flagship drink of national gastronomy, which originated alongside the beginnings of viticulture in the Americas.

For Peru, this recognition, all the more significant for being international, strengthens its case in the decades-old dispute with neighboring Chile to have the origin and exclusivity of the spirit's designation acknowledged.

UNESCO's announcement was immediately hailed as "historic." "Gradually, it will become obvious to everyone that pisco is clearly Peruvian," said the former agriculture minister, Milton von Hesse, in an interview with radio station Exitosa in early January. Production Minister Sergio Gonzalez Guerrero echoed this sentiment: "This victory is a triumph for Peruvian identity and the efforts of our producers."

'No geographical basis'

The dispute between the two countries dates back to the early 20th century. Chile was the first to declare pisco a protected designation of origin, in 1931. At the time, the country was driving the industrialization of brandy production and needed to regulate its quality. Memories of the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), in which Chile emerged victorious over Peru and Bolivia, were still fresh, and this pisco-related grievance only added to the lingering tensions between the two nations.

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