PERU’S NATURAL ABUNDANCE INSPIRED THE INCAS TO WORSHIP THE SOIL AND 16th CENTURY CONQUISTADORS TO PLANT THE FIRST EUROPEAN VINES IN LATIN AMERICA
THUS SIRING AN EXPANSIVE INDUSTRY THAT THRIVED UNTIL THE EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS BY KING CHARLES III OF SPAIN IN 1767
Lisse Garnett reports from Viñas Queirolo in the Ica Valley, old colonial Lima and the pre-Inca Cloud Fortress of Kuélap on the intricate culture and flavours of this endlessly stimulating land of supercharged phenolics and epicurean prowess.
Famed Consultant Viticulturalist & Winemaker Alexandro Sejanovich and Luis Gomez of Vinas Queirolo offer insight on Peru’s potential in glass.
In 2023 Peru’s top exports were copper, gold, petroleum and grapes. Last year Peru exported more grapes than any other country in the world.
Peru is a smorgasbord of natural and seemingly supernatural manmade wonders, of soulful food, ripe produce and a varied climate that runs from tropical Amazon basin to 2500 kilometres of Pacific desert coast. Peru boasts the second largest portion of the Amazon, 60% of its landmass is forested, seconded only by Brazil.
Colonial Spain is very much evident in Lima’s beautiful old town architecture where the houses of the original Conquistadors still stand. Unlike much of Latin America, the Peruvian population are predominantly descended from indigenous people rather than European migrants.
Local food offers a unique fusion of Andean, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. Asian cuisine arrived in the mid-19th century and early 20th Century with Chinese and Japanese agricultural workers. Near five per cent of Peruvians are of Asian descent. Lima is touted as a gastronomic capital by foodies, there are several high-end (and high-cost) world-famous restaurants. Michelin has yet to pay a visit.
POLITICS
Peru is a country of contradictions, whilst two former presidents replaced palace living for prison and a third committed suicide rather than face the same fate, outside currency flocked into the country. Foreign investors hold nearly 40% of the region’s sovereign bonds, Moody’s rated Peru, Baa1 for credit last September, making it the second most stable emerging market in Latin America. This is reflective of the relatively low footprint the government has on the economy.
Gender inequality is an obvious issue, teenage pregnancy rates are very high and there is a distinct lack of sexual education or contraception available to young girls making them vulnerable to sexual abuse and unplanned pregnancy. Abortion is illegal yet according to research in a well-respected US medical journal as many as 19% of Peruvian women have had illegal terminations.
THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION OF PERU
The indigenous groups that still populate the Andes boast ancestors who constructed wondrous edifices, a road network, irrigation systems, pyramids and incredible mountaintop fortresses. Many of these structures would be impossible to replicate today.
The Quechua, a group united by a shared language, are believed to be direct descendants of the Inca. The Chachapoyas are said to be the descendants of the Cloud people who built the fortress of Kuélap before being conquered by the Incas. The Chachapoyas were so resistant to Inca rule that they fought alongside the Conquistadors.
Kuélap
Kuélap is a walled fortress high up in the mountains of the Amazon that was built by the Chachapoyas in the 6th Century. The structure lies 10,000 feet above sea level on a limestone ridge deep in the cloud forest overlooking the Utcubamba Valley. This beautiful secret spot is rich in mosses, trailing oleanders, epiphytes and orchids that derive moisture from the clouds and a natural spring. The fortress walls are 20m high in places and boast intricate carvings of snakes and magical creatures. The climate is mild and fresh, and the humidity is low. The sky was sacred to the Cloud Warriors and they wanted to be as close to it as possible.
The rebellious Chachapoyas or Cloud Warriors were violently absorbed into the Inca empire after decades of resistance, they left no written records but countless artefacts survive. There are clay sarcophagi and human remains in almost every cave and crevasse, they were skilled embalmers, visited their dead frequently, and believed in equipping them for the afterlife. Numerous funerary monuments and settlements exist in this region known by locals as the eyebrow of the jungle.
We stayed at the Gocta Andes Lodge with a direct view of the Gocta Falls.
THE SPANISH CONQUEST
Peruvian schoolchildren are taught about Spanish brutality during the conquest, Spanish friends who school their children in Lima say their offspring have been chastised by local classmates for their country’s role in the decimation of indigenous culture.
The Incas were famously brutal conquerors too, but the hardship European infiltration wrought on indigenous people is impossible to deny, European diseases also took their toll.
The conquistador Francisco Pizarro is credited with the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, though it was the Portuguese explorer Aleixo Garcia who was the first European to make contact with the Inca in 1524. Pizarro founded Lima in 1535 locating his own home on the very spot where the last Inca Emperor, Atahualpa lived before he had him executed.
Pizarro was the bastard son of a ship’s captain and a servant girl. He was born in Trujillo, in Castile, where he was raised by his grandparents before distinguishing himself in the Spanish Army. Research suggests he never learned to read or write. He was born into an opportunistic age, Christopher Columbus made land in the New World in 1492 and the great European powers were all thirsty to colonize new territories for gold, God and glory.
In 1502 Pizarro joined a failed expedition from Spain to form a colony in South America. The colony (in present-day Colombia) was abandoned in favour of another in Darien, Panama. It was there that Pizarro met the explorer Vasco de Nuñez de Balboa, together they were the first explorers to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. Some years later he arrested his friend on behalf of the new Governor of Panama. For this he acquired status and eventual riches, becoming Mayor of Panama City for several years. Balboa, alas, was executed not long after, these were brutal times.
Pizzaro mounted a third expedition to Peru in 1531 having failed twice before, this time he secured the backing of Charles I of Spain. His discovery of the land he christened Peru was a triumph for the Spanish.
Pizarro’s band of 180 men established a base in the Sechura Desert from where he rode into the mountains and made contact with an emissary of Atahuallpa, then Emperor of the Incas.
This was to be the beginning of the end for the Incas, it was not long before Pizarro had killed Atahuallpa and placed his brother on the Inca throne to serve as his puppet, this he did with the help of the Cloud Warriors who had themselves been brutally suppressed by the Incas.
VITICULTURE: SOUTH AMERICA’S FIRST VINES
The first vines were planted in 1539 and a mere twenty-five years later Peru boasted 40,000 hectares of vineyard, this further increased to 100,000 before the expulsion of the Jesuits and a move toward Pisco consumption. This expulsion coupled with phylloxera led to a drastic drop in wine quality that precipitated the almost total demise of fine wine potential in Peru. With research and investment, there is no reason to suppose Peru cannot regain its long-lost status as a grape-growing superpower. Peru has the advantage of its own unique cuisine and Indigenous heritage as well as being one of the most exciting tourist destinations in the world. Artisanal producers are making headway but as yet the wines have failed to make it into the European market. If it were not for radical wine exploration courtesy of Corney & Barrow (established in 1780) in London it would be pretty much impossible to source Peruvian wine directly in the UK. Corney also imports Pisco which is a superb drink, Pisco Sour is the finest cocktail known to man in my eyes but that’s for another piece.
Like the Cloud people and the Incas who conquered them, the Peruvian wines of the early conquistadors are lost to time but local respect for the Earth predates European conquest. Offerings are still made to the soil in gratitude to Pachamama or Mother Earth.
The grape growing region of ICA
Ica is the main grape-growing region today. It is located on the 14th parallel some four hours south of Lima. The powerful, cooling Humboldt current, Pacific winds and freezing cold desert nights produce a huge diurnal temperature range that fosters gradual ripening. Fog and morning dew add to the cooling effect.
Intense ultraviolet light is a given at this latitude. Exposure to UV-B slows down berry growth and increases the biosynthesis of anthocyanins and flavanols manifesting in an electric intensity, a phenomenon evident at altitude in Chile and Argentina too.
GRAPES
You might say that Peruvian wine can be grouped into two broad camps, French style using well-established, often old-vine European varieties, Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet, Malbec, Tannat and Petit Verdot.
There is also an exciting move toward making uniquely Peruvian wines from heritage/patronymic grapes – some call them Spanish grapes – essentially the grapes used for Pisco that run right back to the Conquistadors who transported Mission grapes aka Listàn Prieto in tall ships for Communion rights. These grapes are Peru-specific as they have evolved and crossed naturally in Peru, you could say the French varieties in Peru have their own distinct identity too being pre-phylloxera in origin, unlike their French counterparts which were destroyed by the bug in the mid-nineteenth century.
There are eight distinct varieties used to make Pisco, one – Uvina is a red-skinned 1930s hybrid with a distinctive green herbal character, the others are Torontel (not the same as Torrontés nor Chilean Torontel but a Peruvian Criolla cross), Listàn Prieto (Mission), Quebranta (a cross of Mollar and Listàn Prieto), Palomino Finca aka Albilla (Some conquistadors hailed from Jerez the home of Palomino so this is interestingly apposite), Moscatel de Alejandría aka Italia, Moscatel Negra and Mollar aka Negramoll.
Viñas Queirolo
Viñas Queirolo was established by the Queirolo family who emigrated from Italy 140 years ago. Today they are the leading Pisco and fine wine producers in Peru and are championed by the Head of Merchant Buying Rebecca Palmer at Corney who has uncovered more wine greats than any UK buyer I know.
The family have also built the most stunning wine and food-focused hotel in Ica, The Hotel Vinãs Queirolo (the images above and below are of the restaurant and hotel, they speak for themselves.).
Export Manager Erick Figueroa took us on a tour of the vineyards and told us all about the family history.
Now into their third winemaking generation, the family have invested heavily in vineyard mapping, technology and research. They are also experimenting with altitude and have planted new vineyards on the lower slopes of the Andes entre cordillera in Ica on the coast. Poor Ica soils lack organic matter but are limestone-rich, vines there could not survive without irrigation. Vineyard investment means improved quality in bottle and the wines we tried were world class.
I had the great pleasure of interviewing both the Consultant Viticulturalist & Winemaker Alexandro Sejanovich and winemaker Luis Gomez who told me more about the operation. I asked them what makes Peruvian wine distinctive..
Alexandro Sejanovich: “What is interesting is to have a terroir that is different from anywhere else in the world, and we are still understanding our terroir, grapes were being grown for Pisco, not fine wine so it takes time.”
“Ica is a desert but the mornings always bring mist and dew so you must be careful of botrytis and powdery mildew. Irrigation must also be precise and canopy management is fundamental for sun protection. Pruning is tailored to the plot. The high UV makes the vine produce sun protection in the form of thicker, more colourful aromatic skin. It’s an advantage. This happens at altitude too in Argentina but in Peru, the sunlight is so intense it happens even without altitude. Add to that the complexity of soils and you have countless possible vineyard expressions in bottle.”
LG: Are there any grapes that are specific to Peru?
“Patrimonial wines are the focus in Peru now as they are in much of South America. Peru has this amazing cuisine, and there is a need to offer pairings chosen from the wines of Peru in restaurants.”
Patrimonial is a term used to describe Indigenous varieties and naturally occurring distinctive local grape crossings (Criollas) or long-established often old vine varieties that may have originated in pre-phylloxera Europe.
“All the wines we make here are distinctive in that they offer salty savoury herbal aromatics, especially the patrimonial Quebranta. There is a delicious gastronomic aspect to these savoury wines.”
LG: Erick is a magnificent host, he took us on a tour of the vineyards..
“Intipalka has two amazing vineyards, one in Cañete which is a couple of km from the ocean and produces incredible Sauvignon Blanc. There are also old Tannat vines – they also have a large vineyard in Ica with a different climate. In Ica the Queirolo family have planted in the hills where you have limestone soils. There is so much to understand.”
LG: Do Peruvians drink their own wine?
Luis Gomez: “The No.1 wine that we make is doing really well and improving every year and sells extremely well in Peruvian restaurants. Consumption of wine is actually increasing in the domestic market which is very unusual. It is also important that we grow the export market. Nobody knows about Peruvian wine so it’s a challenge. Pisco too is not well known.”
LG: How easy is it to sell Peruvian wine?
Alexandro Sejanovich: “It was a little difficult to convince people to try Peruvian wine at first. I was at a fair offering wine from Peru to Peruvians who told me, ‘No, I don’t drink wines from Peru.’ I insisted they try this wine I had in my hand, made from Moscatel de Alejandría and when they did, they could not believe how good it was – nor that it was from Peru.”
“There was a time when drinking wine from Peru was not fashionable, this has changed a lot – the same happened in Argentina, when you see other people from abroad love your wine, it opens your eyes and that is happening here in Peru. The best restaurants such as Maido, in Lima are starting to prioritise local wines especially wines with a long history.”
LG: How great is the Spanish influence on the wine?
Alexandro Sejanovich: “Peru has a lot of Spanish colonial architecture, but the indigenous culture is very strong. The Inca people (who are also in Jujuy and Bolivia) have an approach to the land which is amazingly distinctive. They make offerings of food, wine and coca to Mother Earth and they have a deep respect for agriculture. Their beliefs are mixed, Christian and Pantheistic and for them, agriculture is very special. It’s not only about the quality of the food but also about variety, if you visit the market here you will see fruits and vegetables and beans that you have never seen before. They also eat a lot of grapes.”
“For me, the expression of the place is very important and that is evident in Peruvian wine, we make wines with the personality of the place.”
WINES
Intipalka wines can be sourced from Corney and Barrow, others were begged and borrowed or bought from The Peruvian Grocery Shop in Paris who ship to the UK. I tasted the whole Intipalka range but have only included the wines that I could source today in the UK. i will add to this list as I go.
Santiago Queirolo Intipalka N° 1 Gran Reserva 2021
13.5% Alcohol. 40% Malbec, 25% Tannat, 10% Merlot, 15% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Smooth, fresh and delicious with mouth-watering notes of plum, blackcurrant, blood and sweet spices – sees 15 months in new French barrels and offers a moreish hint of golden toasted tobacco, vanilla and dark chocolate too. 92
Corney and Barrow £31.40
Intipalka Vinas Queirolo Sauvignon Blanc 2024
13% Alcohol. Fresh, zesty, laced with lemon sherbet and lime – smooth, saline edged, weighty and viscous but pithy and really refined – a gorgeous Sauvignon, especially for the incredible price. 92
Winedirect £13.45
Intipalka Vinas Queirolo Chardonnay 2023
13% Alcohol. On the nose it is super elegant with lime and salty bitter lemon pith – long fresh and stony with good creamy volume in the mouth – delicious. 92
Corney and Barrow £12.75
Intipalka Syrah Rose Vinas Queirolo 2022
13% White peaches and cream laced with succulent strawberries and saline – super dry and fresh yet creamy on the finish with weight and structure too. Intense, bright and delicious.90
Corney and Barrow £12.75
Pepe Moquillaza, Mimo Italia, Ica Valley, Peru, 2021
Crazy wine made in partnership with Matías Michellini, known for his funky taste in natural wine. Italia grapes fermented for 150 days on skins makes for mental texture and oxidation. Vanilla, camomile, marmalade, beeswax, honey and fermenting dough. I have not yet found this in the UK. 90
Intipalka Tannat Vinas Queirolo 2024
Made from old vines. So deliciously smooth and gorgeously approachable, ripe tannin meets fresh acidity and intensely succulent plummy fruit with a trace of orangey zip. Bloody and structured, with that ever-present Pacific salinity, this is a terribly moreish drink for those who love a lovely layered approachable red. 92
Corney and Barrow £12.75
Bodega Murga Sophia L’Orange 2021
Bodega Murga makes natural wine from Criolla (patrimonial) grapes and Pisco in Pisco, Ica and this wine is made from 85% Quebranta and 15% Mollar. This uncertified, organic orange wine is really exciting and very hard to find but I wanted to include some of the rad stuff – and there is a fair amount of it waiting to be discovered. This has 30 days on the skins, it offers up a dreamy texture with tart, tangy strawberry and orange marmalade layers laced with naughty Turkish Delight. Mental. Sadly not readily available in the UK. 92
Intipalka Patrimonial Negra Criolla 2024
13% Alcohol. I love the gorgeous simplicity of this bright light fruity red – redolent with red fruits; strawberry, pomegranate and a touch of cinnamon – it is endlessly quaffable and has silky ripe tannins and a great fresh acidity. 90
The Peruvian Shop £16.00
Intipalka Patrimonial Quebranta Rose 2024
12.5% Alcohol. 100% Quebranta. Perfectly paired with ceviche, this cherry-laced, saline-edged blossomy beauty is a pleasure to sup. 91
The Peruvian Shop £16.00
