Singani - History

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 (grape). After the former arrived in the Viceroyalty of New Castille (today's Peru and Bolivia), it gave rise to modern varieties such as criolla (grape) 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 1530’s to the 1550’s (grapevines take a number of years to mature) 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 (partially based on the earlier Inca road system). Sivingani Canton in Mizque Province was an early religious mission center and wine producer in the 1540’s. 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 1550's. 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" (weak wine) 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 1600's 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.