Wine Tasting in Chile
I will admit that part of my draw to Argentina and Chile was wine, so I had planned to spend some time at the end of my adventure through the Lake District to enjoy the vineyards in the area. I convinced a couple fellow travelers to join me on a wine tasting tour and we were not disappointed. There were five of us with private transport and a slightly crazy tour guide. (She lived in the US for years though her English was terrible, her laugh was a cackle and she kept giving us useless information like 'there´s the grocery store, you buy groceries there'). Fortunately, she added some entertainment to our tour. Our first vineyard stop was Conch y Toro, which is the largest exporter of wine in Chile. We´d been drinking Casillero del Diablo (one of their brands) since arriving in Chile so it was cool to visit the winery and learn the story behind the Devil´s Cellar. We tasted 2 wines - a Carmeniere (unique to Chile) and a well aged Cabernet Sauvignon. The contrast of the wines was unique and I was happy to put my tasting skills (found at Whole Foods at a wine tasting class with Richard and Schelley) to the test!
After lunch in the area, we set out for the second vineyard. This was a local, small vineyard that only produces 200,000 bottles of wine/yr. They don´t sell to stores, only directly to clients. Everything is done very manually (see the wine press), even the labels are put on by hand. The owner was from Spain and wine making had been in his family for generations. His wines were an excellent value. We tasted an unoaked and oaked chardonnay, a rose (making a comeback!), a light cab made for fish, a bold cab and a muscat. The experience reminded me of a trip to France´s Loire Valley with my mom and I wish I could have brought home a whole case at $6/bottle. I bought one but now that we can´t carry wine on the plane, we´ll see how it makes it in my checked luggage. My rucksack could become a mess of wine.
The day was a nice contrast of a commercial winery with a small, family run business and a good mix of wine. I look forward to comparing this to Argentine wines.
