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Alcoholic drinks from Punucapa, Valdivia, Los Ríos Region, Chile

Sidra de Punucapa

A low-alcohol apple cider from Punucapa near Valdivia in southern Chile, protected as a Denominación de Origen. Local cider apples are milled and hand-pressed, the juice is racked three times to clear it, and it ferments on its own wild yeasts in steel tanks for three months. It is then adjusted with sugar and citric acid, lightly carbonated and bottled at 4.0–5.0 % alcohol.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks4 monthsDenominación de Origen (INAPI, Chile, 2017)Family: Cider (apple)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets no batch size; apple juice is the whole of the ferment, with sugar, citric acid and carbon dioxide added only after fermentation.
Cider apples of the listed local varietiesAt least 75 % from the protected zone; the rest from Valdivia Province[inapi-punucapa]
Sucrose and citric acidAdded after fermentation to set the sweetness[inapi-punucapa]
Carbon dioxideAdded at bottling for a light sparkle[inapi-punucapa]
Starterspontaneous (wild yeasts on the fruit; no added yeast)

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 months

Start
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What changes: Ripe cider apples are picked, washed and sorted

Step 1 of 6
Pick ripe apples by hand or by shaking the branches
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

Apples are picked when colour and smell show they are ripe, twisted off by hand, or knocked down with a pole onto netting. They are washed, and rotten or split fruit is sorted out. Output: washed, sorted cider apples.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A low-alcohol apple cider from Punucapa near Valdivia in southern Chile, protected as a Denominación de Origen. Local cider apples are milled and hand-pressed, the juice is racked three times to clear it, and it ferments on its own wild yeasts in steel tanks for three months. It is then adjusted with sugar and citric acid, lightly carbonated and bottled at 4.0–5.0 % alcohol. Made in 6 steps over 4 months. The longest step, ferment on the apples' own yeasts, takes 3 months (Sociedad Agropecuaria Punucapa S.A). Yeasts found naturally on the apples; no added yeast does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 monthsSet[inapi-punucapa]Ferment on the apples' own yeasts
AciditypH 3–4Set[inapi-punucapa]Ferment on the apples' own yeasts

What makes this one different

It is fermented only by the apples' own wild yeasts, with no added yeast, from a fixed list of old local cider-apple varieties, and it is sweetened back to at least 45 g/l of reducing sugars and lightly carbonated after fermentation. It was the first product of the Los Ríos Region to receive a Chilean Denominación de Origen.

Related ferments

Safety

The specification keeps the apples clean and sound. Netting is spread under the trees so fruit already on the ground is not used, the apples are washed, and rotten or split ones are discarded. It sets the finished cider at pH 3.0 to 4.0 and 0.7 to 0.9 g/l acidity as acetic acid, fermented in stainless-steel tanks, and gives the bottled cider a 3-month shelf life.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The local cider tradition dates to the middle of the 19th century. The Denominación de Origen was handed to the producers' company on 7 September 2017, the first for the Los Ríos Region. A committee of that company, Sociedad Agropecuaria Punucapa S.A., runs it.

  1. [inapi-punucapa] Sociedad Agropecuaria Punucapa S.A., Reglamento de Uso y Control, Denominación de Origen Sidra de Punucapa, arts. 4–6; published by INAPI (Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial, Chile)spec
  2. [radioagri2017] Radio Agricultura, El Agro, "Sidra de Punucapa" recibe sello de origen, 2 October 2017web
  3. [s1] Wikipedia (es), 'Sidra de Punucapa' (fetched 2026-10-16), outline onlywiki