Wine.

 The Colchagua Valley is where we headed.  We had a private guide/driver Jose. The Colchagua area is approximately 2 1/2 hours south of Santiago. The area is all agricultural and the best Cherries are in season now!!  

The drive let us see a lot more of the countryside than we will from the cruise ports since Chile seems to be a country of mountains and one long valley between. The Andes Mountains on the east and coastal range on the west them the coastline(more on that in the next few day). Chile at times is only about 3-5 miles wide in some areas. Agriculture is the mainstay lots of cherries as I mentioned, melons, watermelon, tomatoes and corn. These are summer crops in addition to the grapes. The wine industry has blossomed and grown the last 30-40 years but vines have been in the area for more than 100 years in some wineries. The land is covered with acres and acres of vines. 

The Colchagua Valley prides itself on the Camenere grape which likes warm summers. Harvests can be as early as late February to May. The wineries we visited have different styles so when they pick is different. Both wineries grew and bottled organic wines and one winery was what was called biodynamic in that they would buy ingredients that were naturally occurring and create a type of fertilizer for the vines.   The tasting rooms we have visited were varied from modern to the 1890’s.

We arrived at the first winery and were on an exclusive tour with 6 other Americans.  The winery sits between 2 rivers with acres and acres of vines. They are focused on ecological organic growing. Wines are fermented in steel tanks then moved to barrels for up to 2 years. The focus was on red blends with the carmenera grapes, cab franc grape. Wine makers stating wines could be kept up to 20-30 years more(never in our home).  Our tasting was slightly different than the other 6 visitors. Just what our tour handler arranged.  

Lunch was at a restaurant at a second winery but true to the Latin culture it was a 2 hour affair very enjoyable and relaxing but no time to explore the winery. The weather is in the high 80’s with a slight breeze perfect for me. Not so much for Dan but it will be cold enough soon. The setting was beautiful. The restaurant open air but with glass doors to be closed during winter months. 

Our second winery was a small winery housed in an original building that was 130 years old. Amazing because this area was devastated during an earthquake in the past but this building remained standing.  This was a private tasting of just two different years of the Carmenere bottling.  An education on how weather can impact the final production.

We head back to Santiago  Sunset isn’t until about 8:30 pm  we learn more from Jose.   Chile prides itself on being democratic than its northern neighbors so not so much governmental graft and “socialist/communist” influences. Tomorrow we will explore Santiago and then on Wednesday more wine and another guide.