Day 73 - Don't Judge...More Wine
January 27 - Santa Cruz, Chile
As our last morning at our splurge B&B, we enjoyed breakfast, and ate enough to count as lunch, too… We chatted with an older couple from Israel, and she was on her way to Fort Williams, the most southern point in South America, as a socio-ecologist.
We packed up, once again, and hopped in the car and started to head to Maipo, a region further east of Santiago in the mountains. On the way out of town, I felt some regret, and Evan would not accept, so we agreed to check one more winery. There was one that looked “on the way” properly named Escondido (Hidden). The winery is definitely off the beaten path. We arrived and the place looked deserted. Evan went up to what looked like the entrance – was actually someone’s house. A woman answered and said she’d be right over.
A family of Chilean’s showed up and joined us in an awkward exploration of the property. A woman who worked there joined us – she didn’t have much patience for our slow Spanish, and chatted rapidly with the Chilean family. There was a tour in an hour, and we could hang out to join. It was 20,000 pesos (close to $30) for the tour and tasting, oh ya, and they only have one type of wine, Cabernet. I was intrigued by this winery because of it’s focus on Cab, but from what we could see of the property from the drive way, a tour should be free, not expensive. (If I had a winery, this is what it would look like, if that gives you an idea). Also, we didn’t want to wait an hour, then an hour or so tour. So we kindly bailed and got back in our car. A man pulled up, the owner, and he came and talked to us. He looked like Steve Bannon. We still left (but you can read his writing here http://www.vinaescondidadecolchagua.cl/category/blog/el-autor-del-vino/)
We then felt like, well we’ve derailed this much – we then went to Viu Monent. The property is huge – they have a wine café, a restaurant, and huge grounds. They claim to be one of the oldest wineries. I liked the fact cars parked beneath the grape vines, shading the vehicles. We decided to do a tasting there, with which we sampled seven wines with a man named Sebastian. It was just us, and we enjoyed hanging out after, finishing the wine and sharing tidbits.
Then we continued on as we were near the Apalto region, which is really beautiful. As we drove through the hill, we also ate what was left of our sandwich supplies. We stopped at Vina Montes, and this again was a confusing place. We found what looked like a tasting room, and chatted with a woman who said we could try four wines or just buy a bottle. At this point, we had enough wine in the car, and were interested in tasting. I tasted, Evan supported, I really did not like the Carmarere which is odd. After, we walked around a bit. The restaurant here is absolutely amazing. The building is beautiful and practically positioned in the vines and the kitchen has a sweet setup. (someone check it out for us!)
While we were in the neighborhood, we drove up to Neyen, the last winery outside of Apolta. We pulled up and again the place looked deserted. We saw a few people walking through the rows of grape trees, and we awkwardly pulled up. The guide very kindly said he had just started a tour in Spanish, and we could join or we could join for a tasting on the backside of the tour. We hadn’t an intention of tasting more wine, but this place was pretty interesting and we appreciated an excuse to explore. The building was over 100 years old, built out of adobe, which kept it super cool and meant it didn’t topple over in the 2010 earthquake. The walls were at least 18 inches, maybe two feet thick, from our accounts! Crazy thick and crazy cool.
The group returned and we sat down to enjoy wine together. We had a 2011, 2012, and 2013 of the same (or similar) wines. The 2012 was rare, because it was very loved and therefore is almost gone. The other two are available. All were devine, the 2011 and 2013 being my favorite as the 2012 was too smoky and berry flavored for me. We wrapped it up with an additional wine to taste. We had a great chat, the guide spoke with a passion, loved Portlandia, and has a goal of teaching Spanish in Montreal. The others included two Chilean couples, one that was moving to Shanghai in a few weeks – he works in mining and she in education. As we wrapped up, they invited us to join them at their family’s hotel. (this is why we got the treatment we did – someone had told our guide that the group was from a hotel owner). Evan and I did a quick psychopathic look at each other saying "We are supposed to go camp tonight. But why not" and gratefully abliged.
Back in town, we met the parents, then headed back to the pool to put our feet in. We had brought a nice bottle from Montgras and gifted it to the family, which was much appreciated. Then the wine started. The girl's dad started aerating a bottle of red, glasses were set out, and wine was poured. And poured, and poured, and poured . We moved on to the table out front, and they brought out a tray of meat, crackers, and cheese. He kindly let us know that he had chilled our wine because it was hot (oops, car heating). I don’t know how many bottles were consumed, but we checked in to our hostel down the street, recognizing it might be a late night. We headed out with our new friends for dinner and drinks. Evan had his first Piscola (pisco and coca cola). The only thing on the menu was a variety of burgers, which we hadn't had in ages. Mine was pretty good. I got so tired, I couldn’t hardly keep my eyes open and was absolutely relieved when we left.
As our last morning at our splurge B&B, we enjoyed breakfast, and ate enough to count as lunch, too… We chatted with an older couple from Israel, and she was on her way to Fort Williams, the most southern point in South America, as a socio-ecologist.
We packed up, once again, and hopped in the car and started to head to Maipo, a region further east of Santiago in the mountains. On the way out of town, I felt some regret, and Evan would not accept, so we agreed to check one more winery. There was one that looked “on the way” properly named Escondido (Hidden). The winery is definitely off the beaten path. We arrived and the place looked deserted. Evan went up to what looked like the entrance – was actually someone’s house. A woman answered and said she’d be right over.
A family of Chilean’s showed up and joined us in an awkward exploration of the property. A woman who worked there joined us – she didn’t have much patience for our slow Spanish, and chatted rapidly with the Chilean family. There was a tour in an hour, and we could hang out to join. It was 20,000 pesos (close to $30) for the tour and tasting, oh ya, and they only have one type of wine, Cabernet. I was intrigued by this winery because of it’s focus on Cab, but from what we could see of the property from the drive way, a tour should be free, not expensive. (If I had a winery, this is what it would look like, if that gives you an idea). Also, we didn’t want to wait an hour, then an hour or so tour. So we kindly bailed and got back in our car. A man pulled up, the owner, and he came and talked to us. He looked like Steve Bannon. We still left (but you can read his writing here http://www.vinaescondidadecolchagua.cl/category/blog/el-autor-del-vino/)
We then felt like, well we’ve derailed this much – we then went to Viu Monent. The property is huge – they have a wine café, a restaurant, and huge grounds. They claim to be one of the oldest wineries. I liked the fact cars parked beneath the grape vines, shading the vehicles. We decided to do a tasting there, with which we sampled seven wines with a man named Sebastian. It was just us, and we enjoyed hanging out after, finishing the wine and sharing tidbits.
Then we continued on as we were near the Apalto region, which is really beautiful. As we drove through the hill, we also ate what was left of our sandwich supplies. We stopped at Vina Montes, and this again was a confusing place. We found what looked like a tasting room, and chatted with a woman who said we could try four wines or just buy a bottle. At this point, we had enough wine in the car, and were interested in tasting. I tasted, Evan supported, I really did not like the Carmarere which is odd. After, we walked around a bit. The restaurant here is absolutely amazing. The building is beautiful and practically positioned in the vines and the kitchen has a sweet setup. (someone check it out for us!)
While we were in the neighborhood, we drove up to Neyen, the last winery outside of Apolta. We pulled up and again the place looked deserted. We saw a few people walking through the rows of grape trees, and we awkwardly pulled up. The guide very kindly said he had just started a tour in Spanish, and we could join or we could join for a tasting on the backside of the tour. We hadn’t an intention of tasting more wine, but this place was pretty interesting and we appreciated an excuse to explore. The building was over 100 years old, built out of adobe, which kept it super cool and meant it didn’t topple over in the 2010 earthquake. The walls were at least 18 inches, maybe two feet thick, from our accounts! Crazy thick and crazy cool.
The group returned and we sat down to enjoy wine together. We had a 2011, 2012, and 2013 of the same (or similar) wines. The 2012 was rare, because it was very loved and therefore is almost gone. The other two are available. All were devine, the 2011 and 2013 being my favorite as the 2012 was too smoky and berry flavored for me. We wrapped it up with an additional wine to taste. We had a great chat, the guide spoke with a passion, loved Portlandia, and has a goal of teaching Spanish in Montreal. The others included two Chilean couples, one that was moving to Shanghai in a few weeks – he works in mining and she in education. As we wrapped up, they invited us to join them at their family’s hotel. (this is why we got the treatment we did – someone had told our guide that the group was from a hotel owner). Evan and I did a quick psychopathic look at each other saying "We are supposed to go camp tonight. But why not" and gratefully abliged.
Back in town, we met the parents, then headed back to the pool to put our feet in. We had brought a nice bottle from Montgras and gifted it to the family, which was much appreciated. Then the wine started. The girl's dad started aerating a bottle of red, glasses were set out, and wine was poured. And poured, and poured, and poured . We moved on to the table out front, and they brought out a tray of meat, crackers, and cheese. He kindly let us know that he had chilled our wine because it was hot (oops, car heating). I don’t know how many bottles were consumed, but we checked in to our hostel down the street, recognizing it might be a late night. We headed out with our new friends for dinner and drinks. Evan had his first Piscola (pisco and coca cola). The only thing on the menu was a variety of burgers, which we hadn't had in ages. Mine was pretty good. I got so tired, I couldn’t hardly keep my eyes open and was absolutely relieved when we left.
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