Wine Shop Talk (II): Gastón Acurio

An interview by Gastronomistas for Club Torres

The chef who helped Peruvian gastronomy reach universal status joins us for an exclusive talk about his love for wine and the pleasure he gets from discovering new flavors.

“How the wine world developed in Peru is curious. It got off to a very strong start, because the first vines to reach South America in the 16th century ended up in my country. Then there was a time when the wine industry sank into a kind of slumber, which coincided with the pisco boom. Pisco is our national drink, a pure grape spirit. Nowadays, the resurgence of our gastronomy has also brought about significant investments to revive these somewhat dormant vineyards. The idea is to take full advantage of the opportunity that comes with having a universal Peruvian cuisine and people wanting to experience it with a Peruvian wine.

These days, Peruvian wineries are bringing wine quality up to the level of Peruvian cuisine. Or, at least, we’re starting to see an increasing number of wines that befit our food, but we should have even more.

As you know, our most iconic dish is ceviche, which is served with beer. Can you pair it with wine? Of course you can. It goes really well with a Sauvignon Blanc or even a Riesling, which counteracts the ceviche’s acidity a bit.

I must confess that I, like all chefs, love wine. It’s a friendship, a love affair—it’s the same kind of love one feels for a culinary experience. Without wine, the experience would be diminished. The ability to enjoy wine as a friend, as a lifelong companion, is one of the pleasures and luxuries of life—and one of the most affordable. It’s also one of the most enriching—the kind that offers and gives you so much.

Look...we, as chefs, see life as being this vast legacy of memory, and whenever vivid memories are shared by friends or family these are usually associated with food or a bottle of wine. This has an incalculable value compared to what one pays for a bottle, be it 10, 20, 30 or 40 euros.

My favorite wine is always the last one I drank. These days, I’m enjoying a lot of Rieslings and Pinot Noirs, because they go very well with our cuisine, and in the process I’ve discovered a magnificent world. But tomorrow will bring something new, and that is what’s so beautiful about wine. What is great and fascinating about today’s wine world compared to a few years ago, when everyone was seeking out the same flavor, is the chance to discover something radical, different, incomprehensible even, surprising and striking every day, in every meal—something that frees you from this idea of having to go and find the flavor that you were told you’re supposed to find. Nowadays, setting out to discover a new wine is spectacular.”