Singani
Singani is a Bolivian eau-de-vie or brandy distilled from white Muscat of Alexandria grapes. Only produced in the high valleys of Bolivia, it is the country's national distilled spirit and considered part of its cultural patrimony.
Singani has been produced since the 16th century shortly after the Spanish arrived in South America. It was first distilled by monastic orders who needing sacramental wine found it expedient to also distill. Most sources say the name singani derives from a pre-Columbian village of that name near the mission that first distilled the liquor. While its production methods and drinking characteristics more closely resemble eaux-de-vie, it is treated as a brandy for purposes of international trade. It has since been declared a Domain of Origin and a Geographical Indication by the Bolivian government.
Since the 1990s, formal Bolivian regulations have codified what has long been practiced, and the vineyards from which singani is made are to be planted at elevations of 1,600 m or higher. Singani is thereby known as an altitude product in Bolivian legal terms, the official phrase "of altitude" being also applied to Bolivian wines and grapevine cultivars. Although there are vineyards at elevations much higher than the official minimum, they are difficult to manage, and most production comes from plantations at around 1,800 m above sea level close to where the wineries and distillation facilities are located.
Etymology
Linguistic evidence suggests that the word “singani” arises from the native Aymara language word “siwingani”. Because the Latin-alphabet representation of Aymara sounds is approximate, this word is alternatively spelled as “sivingani”, “siwinkani”, and similar variants. Sivinga or siwinga is the word for “sedge”, a riparian plant found in Andean valleys protected from weather extremes. The suffix “ni” means “the place of”, which thereby becomes “the place where sedges grow”. With the advent of European settlement, the native word was reduced through syncope to “singani”.There are various such placenames in Bolivia, historically and today. It is currently not clear which site first became known for producing singani liquor, although there are at least three probable candidates.
The common thread of the etymon is the prehistoric native placename, followed by pre-Columbian settlements of that name at these locations, the founding of missions at those locations, the production of wine, the rise of haciendas with that placename, the production of liquor, and the trading of that liquor into the city of Potosí.
History
Based on genetic studies, two seminal varieties of grape were introduced to the Americas as early as 1520 by Spanish immigrants arriving via the Canary Islands where these varieties were well established, Muscat of Alexandria and Mission. After the former arrived in the Viceroyalty of New Castille, it gave rise to modern varieties such as Criolla and Torrontés which are used today in distilled liquors and wine.Spanish explorers under Francisco Pizzaro reached the Inca Empire in 1528. They and accompanying religious orders entered the land far south of Cuzco almost immediately thereafter. By 1538 while Lower Peru was still unsettled due to war, official Spanish cities such as the future archdiocese at Sucre were initiated in Upper Peru or what is today Bolivia. In 1545 a massive silver strike was discovered nearby at the Cerro Rico, Potosi. Because of the importance of this site—nearly all of the silver on the Spanish Main originated from there—special attention from the Spanish Crown and allied missions resulted in the establishment of a greater number of religious settlements in the general area. Within this timeframe the growing mining town of Potosi became the Imperial City of Potosi, at that time one of the largest and richest cities in the world, and by far the largest city in the Americas. These factors —an unprecedented large city and a profusion of wine-making missions nearby—set the stage for the emergence of singani.
Grapevines were introduced into the mountain valleys of Bolivia by Spanish missionaries arriving as early as 1530, and the production of wine in Bolivia is first known from these places. The need for wine was driven by the requirements of the Eucharist liturgy, and wherever there was a mission there would likely be some attempt at winemaking. The date range for the initiation of wine production in Bolivia is from about the 1530s to the 1550s which corresponds approximately to the initiation of winemaking in neighboring Peru and Chile. It is generally believed that singani as a name for the distilled spirit arose in that timeframe during the latter half of the 16th Century.
Most distilled liquor in the Spanish colonies was called aguardiente, many present-day liquor names in the Americas being adopted only by the 17th Century or later. Three factors would combine to persuade 16th Century Bolivian liquor merchants to label their product: for those who could dominate it, the massively large market and wealth generator of nearby Potosi; the arrival of competing aguardiente products from Lower Peru; and a reliable trade-name—singani—by which their grape liquor could be bought and sold.
The three likely areas where the use of the word singani got its start stretch in an arc from the Potosi to the Spanish royal road connecting Lima and Buenos Aires. Sivingani Canton in Mizque Province was an early religious mission center and wine producer in the 1540s. A native settlement called Sivingani lay aside the Uruchini River in the San Lucas municipality of Nor Cinti Province in an area known as the Cintis, and which is believed to have been producing wine and grape-based liquor as early as the 1550s. Another area includes placename settlements in the T'uruchipa Valley, the Vicchoca valley, and Santiago de Cotagaita. Augustinian missions were active in these areas about 1550 and they are among the closest locations to the mining center of Potosi which was the monumental consumer of singani in those days.
After the founding of Potosi in 1545, Spanish settlers traveled from there to the Cintis to give birth, it being too cold and socially turbulent in Potosi. This would create an early connection between this wine region and the imperial city. Subsequently, residents of Potosi who acquired wealth founded villas in the valley of the Cintis. By 1585 this area became the major center of wine and singani production initiating many of the first non-monastic commercial ventures. During the 16th Century, Turuchipa was listed as delivering "vinos endebles" to Potosi, while Cinti delivered wine and distilled liquor. At that time each household in Potosi was observed to possess eight to ten "cántaros" or amphora-like jugs of alcoholic drink. This plus population estimates of 100,000 to 200,000 would provide some sense of the overall demand for wine, chicha, and liquor at that time and place.
In the 1600s Bolivia's Tarija region became a supplier of fruit to the singani industry. By the 20th Century Tarija had become the dominant supplier, and wine and singani manufacturers began to consolidate their business there. For example, prominent distiller Kuhlmann moved their operations from the Cinti region to Tarija in 1973 being one of the first to do so. Tarija producers modernized using European equipment and methods and soon displaced other production centers. Today most of Bolivia's grape, wine, and singani industry is centered in Tarija. However, since the year 2000 there has been a resurgence of interest in the original Cinti region, and there are several small producers located there who are reinvigorating early brands.
Over time, as the industry matured, the largest manufacturers of singani settled on a single grape variety for their product, and this plus altitude minimums for vineyards began to be codified in national regulations.
Legal environment
Unlike neighboring pisco which spread itself across two contending countries, singani has always been made only in the territory of Bolivia, and no domain controversy exists as it has for pisco. An exclusive regional product for over 400 years, Bolivia only in recent decades has moved to protect its interests. Part of the motivation was to establish standards so that moonshine could not be called singani. Another impetus was to solidify control of the singani name, the unsatisfactory experience of pisco and of tequila which can be exported in bulk and bottled under foreign labels being cases in point.Bolivian Supreme Decree 21948 declares singani an exclusive and native product of Bolivia, where the word singani cannot be otherwise used, or modified for use, outside of its stated purpose. National Law 1334 of 1992 establishes the domain of origin classification for singani and the geographical indication, listing specific zones of production. Supreme Decree 24777 establishes general controls over the DO and prohibited practices. Supreme Decree 25569 codifies minimum of 1,600 m for altitude wine, and refers to the promotion of altitude singani and wines. Supreme Decree 27113 describes international enforcement of intellectual property, including the DO and the GI for singani. National Norms NB324001 further defines and controls the process of making singani, it also describes prohibited practices, it spells out the altitude requirement of 1,600 meters for wine, wine products, and cultivars, and sets standards for purity and labeling.
Due to international treaties between the US and other countries, national liquors such as pisco, cachaça, and tequila are listed by the US TTB under their own class-type names, and can be used in US commerce so named. No such agreement on type exists with Bolivia and thus singani must be traded in the USA under the nearest existing TTB class which is brandy. Similar to other nations however, Bolivia considers singani not only the national liquor, but a unique product and a cultural patrimony.
The singani area subject to actual production covers about 20,000 acres of mountainous terrain, compared to about 220,000 acres for cognac and 83,000 acres for champagne. Most singani production since about 1980 is concentrated in the Tarija GIs of Arce, Avilés, and Méndez.
Agencies involved in the control and oversight of singani are IBNORCA a publisher of regulations, SENASAG an enforcer of regulations, and CENAVIT a national laboratory and investigation arm. FAUTAPO is an internationally funded source of study, education, promotion, and development of the grape, wine, and singani industry in Bolivia.