Vintage Moquegua
History, Wine, and Archaeology on a Colonial Peruvian Periphery
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Texas Press
Published:1st Dec '11
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Fascinating, deeply human narrative of colonialism and capitalism captures the history of a New World winery in the desert mountains of southern Peru
The microhistory of the wine industry in colonial Moquegua, Peru, during the colonial period stretches from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries, yielding a wealth of information about a broad range of fields, including early modern industry and labor, viniculture practices, the cultural symbolism of alcohol consumption, and the social history of an indigenous population. Uniting these perspectives, Vintage Moquegua draws on a trove of field research from more than 130 wineries in the Moquegua Valley.
As Prudence Rice walked the remnants of wine haciendas and interviewed Peruvians about preservation, she saw that numerous colonial structures were being razed for development, making her documentary work all the more crucial. Lying far from imperial centers in pre-Hispanic and colonial times, the area was a nearly forgotten administrative periphery on an agricultural frontier. Spain was unable to supply the Peruvian viceroyalty with sufficient wine for religious and secular purposes, leading colonists to import and plant grapevines. The viniculture that flourished produced millions of liters, most of it distilled into pisco brandy. Summarizing archaeological data and interpreting it through a variety of frameworks, Rice has created a three-hundred-year story that speaks to a lost world and its inhabitants.
ISBN: 9780292747623
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm
Weight: 454g
365 pages