It is Saturday (Sabado) in Chile, the skies are clear and it is warm! Prior to our departure, we had been trying Chilean wines and had scheduled a tour of the Cholchagua Valley (very similar to Napa Valley) and stops at 3 wineries.
We were ready to go at 7am as it was about a 2+ hour drive from Santiago. Fortunately, we had the same driver, Jorge, as we did the day before, but a different guide, Marcello. We travelled through the country-side, south from Santiago, to get to the wine region. The climate in this area is perfect for growing a variety of fruits and vegetables. Along the way, there were many apple and peach orchards, sunflowers, kiwi farms, strawberry fields and so much more.
Our first stop was at Casa Silva. We felt pretty special as it was only the 2 of us that were guided around the vineyard and winery. We enjoyed sampling a few wines and then onto the next winery.
The winery at Vina Emilinda was absolutely beautiful! This was the first truely organic winery we had ever been exposed to. No chemicals or pesticides, no machines, not fertilizers. They have the best employees - the llamas eat the grass between the rows of grapes and the chicken eat the bugs that could potentially harm the vines. Not only do they work for free, they don´t talk back! It was really a fun experience and the wine was very good too!
Our last stop was a big winery Vin Manent. We had lunch, which consisted of some typical Chilean food (salad with shrimp and oranges, cold tomato soup, spinach ravioli stuffed with cheese in a tomato sauce, grilled steak over onions and cherries steeped in wine and for dessert, sorbet and creme brulee). After a tour of the vineyards via a horse drawn wagon, we toured the winery and sampled a very young and rustic red wine. From there we were taken back to the restaurant to sample the wines. (We didn´t think these wines were a good as the ones from the smaller wineries, but the food was good!)
After a 2 hour drive back to the hotel, we were ready to relax and have a bite to eat. This time we wanted to try the typical Chilean beer. And so we did, with some light sandwiches.
Tomorrow, we will explore the coast of Chile and perhaps some good seafood!
(Technical difficulties are preventing the posting of more pictures. Hopefully better luck tomorrow.)
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