South American Wine Guide, Independent Guide to the Best Wines in South America for Visitors to Peru

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South American Wines

An Introduction to the Wines of South America for Visitors to Peru

Wines from Peru: Introduction / Regions / Notable Producers / Reviews

Notable Producers: Tacama

Tacama - Peru's first vineyard

The Tacama Vineyard has an area of about 200 hectares (494 acres) and is located in the Valley of Ica, a fertile oasis surrounded by desert. It is situated 300 kilometers from Lima the capital of Perú, and 50 kilometers from the coast, it is 400 meters above sea level.
Tacama uses both French technology and receives advice from French experts. Tacama has won several awards in international shows.
International Experts have classified Tacama's wines as being of worldclass quality.

History and most relevant facts

In his interesting and well documented book about the "History of Chilean Wine", the author, Jose del Pozo states that cultivation of grapes spread very fast in the region. In Mexico, it was cultivated since Hernán Cortés' time around 1520, following the Conquest of Mexico. It arrived later to Peru, where the names of Bartolomé de Terrazas and Francisco de Carabantes stand as the pioneers of vine growing in this country - during the decade of 1540. Carabantes formed the vineyard of TACAMA in the oasis of Ica, south of Lima, and which is the oldest in Peru. From there it spread to Chile and Argentina.”

During the decade of the 1920's, TACAMA established its first contacts with French Technology, importing wine casks and hiring French technicians. This is the beginning of the vineyard renovation with the introduction of grapevines imported from France. This is the first effort to produce wines using modern technology. The Second World War put an end to this experiment, and it is only after 1958 that the notable transfer of specialized technology from France to Peru on the difficult art of producing wine begins.

In 1962, TACAMA hired the services of a first class French Enologist, Robert Niederman, who contributed toward increasing the quality of its products with his knowledge and efficient methods. From that date on, the best French experts - world authorities in the production of wine - become advisers to TACAMA and travel constantly to Ica during the grape harvest season, monitoring the preparation of its wines and applying the latest developments in the art of wine making.

Professors Jean Ribéreau-Gayon, Émile Peynaud, Max Rives, Alain Carbonneau and Pascal Ribéreau-Gayon, among others, collaborate to establish and maintain a permanent communication with regard to the latest processes and techniques. All of them make annual visits to TACAMA and Robert Niederman attributes the great quality and success of our wines to the constant guidance of these professionals.

According to Professor Jean Ribéreau-Gayon, “the efforts made by TACAMA have been rewarded with the production of wines of undisputed quality, thus creating a typically Peruvian variety of wines comparable to the best wines of the vine-growing countries”. “I have personally witnessed the significant technological effort made by TACAMA, including both work methods and materials, and based on very safe scientific principles”, he adds.

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The Vineyard

The TACAMA vineyard is presently 200 hectares of alluvial soil formed during the great thawing period back in prehistoric times. In those remote times of devastating cataclysms, huge extensions of mud slide down the Andes mountain range into the Pacific Ocean forming valleys with rivers flowing through them. This caused the subsoil of the Valley of Ica to be stony and sandy, conditions which are similar to some of the best vineyards in France, thus contributing to the quality of their vines and fruits.

As mentioned above, the lack of rainfall in Ica has forced Tacama to use, during the flood season, an irrigation system consisting of both canals and deep wells so their plants are timely watered as required.

Professor Max Rives, emeritus Director of the French Agriculture Research Institute, says about the Tacama vineyard: “This region is suitable for producing wines under exceptional conditions … thanks to the characteristics of its climate and soil”. “This allows wines of a characteristic, inalterable type, to be obtained with a quality compared only to the products of the best wine producing countries in the world”, he adds.

South American Wines - An Independent Guide to the some of the Best Wines from Peru, Argentina & Chile.