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Pisco has two protected names in Great Britain, one for Peru and one for Chile.
GOV.UK lists Pisco from Peru as a geographical indication in category 9, fruit spirit, with an original EU registration of 31 October 2013 and protection through the UK-Andean Countries Agreement. The Chilean entry is also category 9, and is protected through the UK-Chile association agreement, not by direct registration under the EU scheme.
Difford’s Guide describes the dispute as a generations-old argument over who owns pisco, with each country calling it the national spirit, and reports that each banned the other’s pisco, Chile in 1961 and Peru about 30 years later. The British register lists both names and takes no side. The pisco page covers the spirit.
Peruvian pisco is distilled once, never diluted and never aged in oak.
Difford’s Guide lists eight grape varieties for Peruvian pisco: four non-aromatic, led by Quebranta, and four aromatic, Italia, Moscatel, Torontel and Albilla. The wine ferments for eight to 12 days to 11% to 14% ABV and goes straight to a single distillation. No colouring, flavouring or water is added afterwards, so the pisco goes into the bottle at whatever strength comes off the still, between 38% and 48% ABV.
Before bottling it rests for at least three months in an inert vessel such as ceramic, glass or stainless steel, and oak ageing is not permitted. Single-variety bottlings are called puro and blends acholado, while mosto verde comes from juice distilled before fermentation has finished.
Chilean pisco can be diluted, aged in wood and sold at a lower strength.
Difford’s Guide says Chilean pisco is distilled and then reduced with water, and may mature in wood: 180 days earns the term Guarda and 360 days Envejecido. It adds that Chilean pisco can be bottled at as little as 30% ABV. The two countries make different products under one name.
Grappa is Italian grape marc spirit.
Category 6 of the retained Regulation (EC) 110/2008 describes grape marc spirit as made only from grape marc, fermented and distilled either by water vapour or with water added, while the marc itself is in the still, at under 86% ABV. The minimum strength is 37.5%, no other alcohol may be added and nothing may be flavoured.
GOV.UK records Grappa as Italy’s geographical indication in category 6, with an original EU registration of 13 February 2008. Difford’s Guide says that under EU rules a spirit can be called grappa only if it is distilled in Italy from Italian grape pomace, and that production centres on the cooler north, with Veneto, Friuli and Piedmont most identified with it. The grappa page covers the spirit.
Difford’s Guide describes the pomace fermented while still moist, then run through a continuous still fed by a disalcolatore or through a batch still. Unaged grappa rests for about six months and is reduced to 40% to 50% ABV. Aged grappa matures in oak or other woods, and a year earns the term vecchia, 18 months riserva or stravecchia.
Pisco from Peru, pisco from Chile and grappa differ on six points.
The table sets the three side by side.
Pisco from Peru, pisco from Chile and grappa compared
Made from
- Pisco (Peru)
- Fermented grape must, eight varieties
- Pisco (Chile)
- Fermented grape wine
- Grappa
- Grape marc, the pressed skins and pips
Where
- Pisco (Peru)
- Five coastal regions of Peru
- Pisco (Chile)
- Chile
- Grappa
- Italy
Water after distillation
- Pisco (Peru)
- None; bottled at still strength
- Pisco (Chile)
- Added to reduce strength
- Grappa
- Added to reduce unaged grappa
Wood
- Pisco (Peru)
- Not allowed; rests in inert vessels
- Pisco (Chile)
- Allowed; Guarda at 180 days
- Grappa
- Optional; vecchia at one year
Strength
- Pisco (Peru)
- 38% to 48% ABV
- Pisco (Chile)
- As low as 30% ABV
- Grappa
- 37.5% ABV floor; 40% to 50% bottled
British category
- Pisco (Peru)
- 9, fruit spirit
- Pisco (Chile)
- 9, fruit spirit
- Grappa
- 6, grape marc spirit
| Point | Pisco (Peru) | Pisco (Chile) | Grappa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made from | Fermented grape must, eight varieties | Fermented grape wine | Grape marc, the pressed skins and pips |
| Where | Five coastal regions of Peru | Chile | Italy |
| Water after distillation | None; bottled at still strength | Added to reduce strength | Added to reduce unaged grappa |
| Wood | Not allowed; rests in inert vessels | Allowed; Guarda at 180 days | Optional; vecchia at one year |
| Strength | 38% to 48% ABV | As low as 30% ABV | 37.5% ABV floor; 40% to 50% bottled |
| British category | 9, fruit spirit | 9, fruit spirit | 6, grape marc spirit |
Pisco is brandy in American rules and fruit spirit in British ones.
Brandy in British rules is built on wine spirit, as what is brandy sets out. Annex II gives pisco its place in category 9 and grappa its place in category 6, so neither is brandy on a British register. 27 CFR 5.145 goes the other way: it describes Pisco as grape brandy distilled in Peru or Chile, and lets grape pomace brandy be labelled grappa.
Pisco carries the Sour and the Punch, and grappa belongs in a small glass.
Our Pisco Sour shakes 60 ml of pisco with lemon juice, sugar syrup and egg white, and serves it in a coupe glass. The Pisco Punch pairs the same measure with pineapple, lemon, clove and a float of white wine.
Difford’s Guide advises a medium tulip glass for grappa, with young aromatic grappa chilled to 9 to 13°C and aged grappa slightly below room temperature. In Italy it is mostly a digestivo after dinner, or a dash in espresso called caffè corretto.
Ve.N.To is the grappa sour: 45 ml of white grappa with lemon, chamomile honey and chamomile cordial. The Sgroppino is not a grappa drink. It uses vodka.