Chile - Wineries!

Since we were traveling such a great distance to meet the cruise in a country we had never visited that produces some great wines we factored in an extra day for sightseeing. Due to the language barrier and other logisitical concerns we hired a driver and translator, which in retrospect was an absolute stroke of genius. The cost for this service was about $100 per day and my only regret is that our driver didn't speak English. Don't get me wrong, our translator was absolutely delightful. But our driver was a "wine guy" and generally interesting individual with whom I would have loved to share a bottle of wine (after hours, of course!) Thankfully we also had the same team for our transfer to Valparaiso to meet the ship so we were able to enjoy their company for two days.

The first morning we drove to Viña Aquitania on the edge of Santiago. It's a boutique winery and vineyard of approximately 45 acres, but there's nothing small about their wines other than the production. Founded by one Chilean and two French winemakers, with a third Frenchman eventually joining their ranks, this place produces some stunning wines. They have another vineyard in the Malleco valley planted with different varietals that weren't offered for our tasting. If their other wines are even close to the quality of the wines we tasted they must be remarkable as well.

Standing in the pergola atop the fermenting room you can easily see the four borders of the property, which lends credence to the adage of 'good things coming in small packages.' The labels here are still applied by hand and tour groups tend to be proportionally small. Unfortunately their wines are not generally available for purchase in the USA, although we continue to search them out. Hopefully we'll find an affordable source (shipping from Chile is prohibitively expensive for small quantities) and be able to enjoy these wines at home.

On our way to the next winery we stopped for lunch at La Vaquita Echá in Pirque, just outside Santiago. One word of caution - your eyes will likely be much larger than your stomach and your nose will not help your restraint improve! The aromas of meat grilling over an open flame will have your mouth watering and the local specials listed on the menu will be a huge temptation. You'll do much better in a small group (four to six) than you will as a couple. While most of the food is simply prepared it is absolutely delicious. We had a ton of leftovers and were delighted that our translator was happy to take them home. In retrospect we should have insisted that they join us instead of dining separately, as is the company protocol.

Thankfully we had a short drive to Concha y Toro, as I would have drifted into a food coma if I sat in the van for very long! While most people have probably become aware of Concha y Toro through their Casillero del Diablo collection, readily available across the USA in grocery stores and price clubs, there are lesser-known wines produced here that are a bit more obscure. Their flagship offering, Don Melchor, is one of my perennial favorites. Occasionally I stumble across it at Costco at a more reasonable price than what you're likely to find elsewhere. I'll pick up a bottle (as much as I'd love to purchase it by the case...) and put it in my wine cooler for a year or two before enjoying it for a special occasion. Incidentally, Don Melchor is the only wine now aged in the actual Casillero del Diablo. The tour provided our first taste of their Trio collection, namely the Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Blanc blend. Delightfully drinkable and balanced, this is a nice warm-weather wine that we haven't located yet in the states. Note that you'll get a wine glass with your tour, so make appropriate packing plans to get them home safely if you'd like to keep it. While they're not luxury stemware, they are much nicer than I would have expected. Concha y Toro is a huge wine producer and tours tend to be sizable (a dozen or so by my estimation) but once again we were fortunate and only had one other couple on our tour along with two guides.

Dinner for our last night in Santiago was at Liguria, another of the restaurants adjacent to Hotel Orly. They found a server who spoke about as much English as we speak Spanish, and in the spirit of shared adventure and understanding of the limitations we were operating under we ended up having a delightful meal. There's something to be said for stepping out of your comfort zone and we did that in a big way with our time in Santiago. We hope to return some day, after we cross other destinations off our list.