Editing Pisco (section)

==History==
===Early Aguardientes===
[[File:Piscosingani.jpg|thumb|Zones of pisco production as established by Peruvian and Chilean law in red; the Department of Tarija, [[Bolivia]], where most [[singani]] is produced in green]]
Unlike the land in most of the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]], where only very few vineyards were established (mostly for the production of [[sacramental wine]]), some locations in the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]] were quite suitable for growing grape vines. By 1560, Peru was already producing wine for commerce; over time, a significant wine industry arose in the region.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rice |first=Prudence M. |title=The Archaeology of Wine: The Wine and Brandy Haciendas of Moquegua, Peru |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |date=January 1996 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=187–204 |doi=10.1179/009346996791973936}}</ref><ref name=Huertas>{{cite journal |last=Huertas Vallejos |first=Lorenzo |title=Historia de la producción de vinos y piscos en el Perú |trans-title=History of the production of wines and piscos in Peru |language=es |journal=Universum |date=2004 |volume=19 |issue=2 |doi=10.4067/S0718-23762004000200004 |doi-access=free}}</ref> It grew sufficiently strong and threatening to the Spanish [[mercantilist]] policies that in 1595 the [[Spanish Crown]] banned the establishment of new vineyards in the Americas to protect the exports of its native wine industry; however, this order was largely ignored.<ref name=Huertas/> As further protectionist measures, the Crown forbade exportation of Peruvian wine to Panama in 1614 and Guatemala in 1615.<ref name=Huertas/>

In 1572, Santa Maria Magdalena, a town in Peru, had a port by the name ''Pisco''. Pisco became a crucial route for distribution of an alcoholic beverage&nbsp;– aguardiente. Port of Pisco shortened the name to just Pisco, which was the name of the grape liqueur that was originated in the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thepiscopeople.com.au/history-of-pisco/|title=History of Pisco|website=The Pisco People|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-03}}</ref>

Distillation of the wine into pisco began in earnest around the turn of the 17th century, perhaps in response to these pressures.<ref name=Huertas/> Until the early 18th century, however, most aguardiente was still primarily used to fortify wine, in order to prevent its oxidation, rather than drunk on its own. This method of conservation corresponds with fortified wines that were shipped to Italy and Spain from other parts of the world ''e.g.'', wines from [[Madeira wine|Madeira]] and [[Marsala wine|Marsala]].

In the 17th century, production and consumption of wine and pisco were stimulated by the mining activities in [[Potosí]], by then the largest city in the New World.<ref name=Huertas/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/472778/Potosi|title=Potosi – Bolivia}}</ref>

===Recession of Peruvian pisco===
[[File:Ica in 1615 by Guamán Poma.jpg|thumb|upright|"''The town of [[Ica, Peru|Ica]], land of much wine, the best of the kingdom''", painting of 1615 by the [[Inca]] painter [[Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala|Guamán Poma]] in his work "Nueva corónica y buen gobierno". [[Royal Library, Denmark]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://poma.kb.dk/permalink/2006/poma/1049/en/text/?open=idm656|page=1049|year=1615|author-link=Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala|author=Guamán Poma|title=Guaman Poma, Nueva corónica y buen gobierno (1615)}}</ref>]]
Historians state that the first grapes ever imported arrived in 1553. The production of pisco started at the end of the 16th century. After the process of fermentation and distillation the juice from the grapes was then made in to liquor. This juice was then stored in clay jars called piscos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://museodelpisco.org/all-about-pisco/|title=All About Pisco – Museo Del Pisco|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-13|archive-date=2020-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001213336/https://www.museodelpisco.org/all-about-pisco/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The entire southern coast of Peru was struck by the [[1687 Peru earthquake]], which destroyed the cities of [[Pisco, Peru|Villa de Pisco]] and [[Ica, Peru|Ica]]. [[Wine cellar]]s in the affected area collapsed and mud containers broke, causing the nation's wine-growing industry to collapse.<ref name="Lacoste" /><ref name="Orich" />

In the early 18th century, wine production in Peru exceeded that of pisco. By 1764, pisco production dwarfed that of wine, representing 90% of the grape beverages prepared.<ref name=Lacoste>{{cite journal |last=Lacoste |first=Pablo |title=La vid y el vino en América del Sur: el desplazamiento de los polos vitivinícolas (siglos XVI al XX) |trans-title=The vine and wine in South America: the displacement of the wine-growing poles (16th to 20th centuries) |language=es |journal=Universum |date=2004 |volume=19 |issue=2 |doi=10.4067/S0718-23762004000200005 |doi-access=free}}</ref> With the [[suppression of the Society of Jesus]] in Spanish America, [[Jesuit]] vineyards were auctioned off, and new owners typically did not have the same expertise as the Jesuits – leading to a production decline.<ref name=Lacoste/>

In the late 18th century the Spanish Crown allowed the production of [[rum]] in Peru, which was cheaper and of lower quality than pisco.<ref name=Lacoste/> In the 19th century demand for cotton in industrialized Europe caused many Peruvian winegrowers to shift away from vineyards to more lucrative cotton planting, contributing further to the decline of wine production and the pisco industry which depended on it.<ref name=Orich/> This was particularly true during the time of the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) when cotton prices skyrocketed due to the [[Union blockade|Blockade of the South]] and its cotton fields.<ref name=Lacoste/>

Pisco was also popular in the US, in [[San Francisco]] and nearby areas of [[California]] since the 1830s, during the [[California Gold Rush|Gold Rush]], in the 1860s, and early to mid 1900s.<ref>Toro-Lira, G., [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1452873011 ''History of Pisco in San Francisco: A scrapbook of first-hand accounts''], CreateSpace, Sep. 29, 2010.</ref><ref>Toro-Lira, G. & Zapata, S., [https://wingsofcherubs.com/the-u-s-vs-200-jars-of-pisco-peruvian-exporting-tradition-of-pisco/1 ''The U.S. vs. 200 jars of Pisco: Peruvian Exporting Tradition of Pisco''], Originally published in Spanish as: “Tradición Exportadora Peruana del Pisco: Los Estados Unidos vs. Doscientas Botijas de Pisco”. Boletín de Lima, N° 152, 2008. pp. 51-62. Lima, Peru.</ref>