Elqui Valley, Chile

19 Jan 2007

From La Serena, we drove up the Elqui Valley. Well known for pisco production, we decided to drive up the valley and find out what the difference between pisco and wine is. . .

The valley is a desert except for areas close to the Rio Elqui and wherever agriculture is happening. There are orange groves, vineyards and mines in the oasis below the arid mountains. We visited the small towns of Vicuña, Paihuano, Monte Grande, and finally Pisco Elqui.

En route we took a walk out onto a dam built in the mid-1990s for watering the valley´s farms. We also passed many stands selling fresh grapes - the most delicious we´ve probably ever eaten. The valley is full of cacti which produce a fruit eaten here called copao - it tastes like a sour kiwi and is served at room temperature with suger mixed in.

We visited a pisco distillery called Tres Erres (3 R´s) in the town of Pisco Elqui. We took a tour of the factory and learned that to make pisco, they first make wine, distill it (separate the chemical substances based on differences in boiling temperatures), then age it in casks similar to wine. We have added a picture of a chemical distillation set next to the pisco factory´s large-scale equipment. Interestingly, the rights for producing pisco have been debated between Peru and Chile; both countries consider pisco their national drink and claim it as their own. The word pisco is of Quechuan origins, meaning the little bird that inhabited the valleys of these regions.