Pedro Manuel Venturo Zapata was the CEO of "Hacienda Higuereta y Anexos - Negociacion Vinicola Pedro Venturo S.A." from 1925 to 1952.

Creation and Construction

(1539) When establishing the doctrine of the town of

Surco Santiago de Surco, commonly known simply as Surco, is a district of Lima, Peru. It is bordered on the north with the district of Ate Vitarte and La Molina; on the east with San Juan de Miraflores, on the west with San Borja, Surquillo, Mirafl ...

. The parish jurisdiction was placed under the order o
St. James the Apostle
The proximity of the Hacienda Higuereta to the sea, good winds, pastures and backwaters turned it into a sort of village of rest for the inhabitants of Lima, from viceroys to officers and officials of all kinds.
(1800) The grounds of the Hacienda Higuereta (which owes its name to the thriving fruit industry of the area) and of the Hacienda Vista Alegre were going through many owners, from Colonial to the Republic. Fro
Don Manuel Martinez of Aparicio
(1792-1850), Count Montecarmelo, to ultimately be acquired by an Italian immigrant Don Pedro Venturo Toledo.

Pedro Venturo Zapata (Owner/CEO 1925-1952)

(1925) Don Pedro Venturo Zapata acquired "The Hacienda Higuereta" from his father who died that same year. He led the Hacienda to serious levels of productivity of

pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative ...

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, red and white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

( Albilla Superior, Oporto, Moscato Dulce),

Vermouth Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...

and other products such as balsamic

vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to et ...

, Grape Juice and Martini.
He also raised livestock finance, with over 300 holstein cows, 2 bulls named Ambrosio and Churchill, chickens, turkeys and pigs, They produced eggs, milk and meat for the community. Don Pedro Venturo was also one of the largest breeders of the Peruvian Paso Horse.
He was an honorary member of various labor organizations and he improved living conditions and planned social assistance, according to modern trends in his "Hacienda Higuereta", building houses for workers and employees; endowing the negotiation of sports fields, venue for film shows.
The Hacienda was in some ways a small town with homes for the employees and their families, a school, a movie theater with mezzanine for trusted employees, a park, a wood shed, a machine shop a pool, soccer fields, a chapel, a bodega, public restrooms and of course the buildings where the wine and pisco were crushed, distilled and aged.
Don Venturo worked with organizations to provide the population with the abundant food and elements of sports and healthy recreation.
He was a member of the Wine Committee of the National

Agrarian Society An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture ...

and organizer of the Advisory Mission, in 1930, to study the law of alcoholic beverages and promotion of national viticulture.
He organized the first Harvest Festival in Peru called "La Vendimia", chairing the Organizing Committee in 1937 in

Santiago de Surco Santiago de Surco, commonly known simply as Surco, is a district of Lima, Peru. It is bordered on the north with the district of Ate Vitarte and La Molina; on the east with San Juan de Miraflores, on the west with San Borja, Surquillo, Mirafl ...

. La Vendimia Wine Festival continues today. (1956) The Hacienda Higuereta was located near an airfield, and in 1956, the unavoidable happened—a plane crashed on the grounds of the Hacienda during a practice run.

The Hacienda is Demolished

After Don Venturo's Death in 1952, the company and hacienda were split and sold to different investors. In 1967 General Juan Velasco Alvarado took power with armed forces in a coup d'État against President

Fernando Belaúnde Terry Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

During General Velasco's reign from 1968 to 1975, he restructured parts of Peru. One of his mandates was an agrarian reform program to expropriate farms and diversify land ownership, much of which had been concentrated in Haciendas' owned by a small percentage of the population.
Hacienda Higuereta was on his target. Under new Peruvian government law any hacienda that is not producing what the quota mandates must be destroyed. Hacienda Higuereta was ordered to be torn down. {{coord missing, Peru Former populated places in Peru