Chilean pisco producers seek to convert vineyards in the north of the country into UNESCO landscape heritage Unesco. The application could be presented in 2023.
Producers of Chilean pisco, a liquor made by distilling wine, are preparing a candidacy to nominate two pisco regions in the north of the country as Unesco wine-making cultural landscape heritage< /strong>, with the aim of relaunching the product internationally and attracting more tourism that boosts the economy in those territories.
Pisqueros from the regions of Coquimbo and Atacama They sealed an agreement this Friday, at a summit held at the headquarters of the Regional Government of Coquimbo, in the town of La Serena, with representatives of the Government, politicians, local authorities and other civil society actors, to join forces in the candidacy.
In the event that the application to Unesco is successful, the valleys of the Andean foothills of the Coquimbo and Atacama regions will be the first in America to be declared a wine cultural landscape, along with areas with a tradition of producing wine such as the French Burgundy and Champagne.
International presence
“The candidacy requires mobilizing the public and private sectors, understanding all sectors; it is something holistic thataspires to promote the entire territory, a very interesting option for the region and for all of Chile“, the person in charge of the historical investigation of the candidacy of the pisqueros assured EFE , Pablo Lacoste.
“Includes all sectors, think of the entire territory, promote productive chains, value gastronomy, tourist attractions, native peoples, crafts, art, culture”, added the historian.
The Declaration of the Pisco Valleys as a cultural wine-producing landscape would give the liquor greater international exposure than it currently is, which could attract more tourism to the region; The objective of the actors involved is to structure the pisco areas with the greatest economic activity to anchor the local population.
The Chilean pisco producers will take to Unesco the declaration of their valleys as eastern wine cultural landscape 2023, after completing the work started in 2021 to document the historical, architectural and cultural heritage linked to pisco production.
Chilean pisco: linked to tradition
The two applicant pisco regions are located in the north of Chile, in an arid zone at the gates of the Atacama desert and on the slopes of the Andes; Its warm and sunny climate makes the grapes grow with greater sweetness than in other areas of the country, an essential characteristic to produce the distilled pisco.
The narrow arid valleys of the foothills are They are dyed green in their lower levels, irrigated by narrow rivers that make possible the agricultural tradition of those areas, which had been established before the colonization of the country by Europeans.
This is the case of the Waqar pisco company, run by the Camposano family and located in the Limarí valley, and which is committed to a limited edition artisanal pisco that commands a higher value per bottle than its more commercial equivalents; its distillery dates back to the mid-19th century and, although it has already suffered interruptions, the current generation resumed the family tradition.
Half of Waqar’s product goes abroad, especially to Europe, and it has even won a prize in a London cocktail contest with a recipe made with its distillate: “These valleys made pisco known a hundred years ago ago, and today they continue to be punished for their tradition and their great contribution to the quality of pisco”, the founder of Waqar, Jaime Camposano, told EFE.
The pisco man uses his experience sensory to achieve the product you are looking for, with a process that varies slightly each time it is repeated; it is an artisan technique from the choice of raw materials to the final bottling.
For Camposano, the declaration of the valley where Waqar is located, the Limarí, as a wine cultural landscape “not only would be an award”, but “the end of a very long story” formation of the pisco valleys as wine producers.
“We remain attached to the territory and tradition; here are the machinery used by my grandfather, my great-grandfather, the place where they distilled”, concludes Camposano.