By admin When I was planning my Chile/Argentina trip, I knew one thing was a must: a visit to Chile wine country. The Maipo, Colchagua and Casablanca Valleys are all accessible as day trips from Santiago, so it’s easy to fit in a wine tour as part of stay in Chile’s capital city. I only had one full day in Santiago (the day after I arrived, and before traveling to Patagonia) and could only find a tour to the Casablanca Valley on that day, so the decision on where to go was made for me. Fortunately, the reviews online were excellent and the pictures looked beautiful. I was in.
I booked a small group tour through Stamp’s Tours and was picked up in the morning by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable local guide named Carlos. We then picked up the only other member of the tour group, a British woman named Katie who was also traveling solo. That’s not where the similarities ended – she also recently quit her job in New York and was taking three months to travel in Latin America before moving back to London. Having only one tour group companion could turn into a disaster of a nine hour excursion with the wrong person. Fortunately, Katie and I had plenty in common, she was very easy-going and she also had a charming British accent. Phew!
Carlos regaled us with facts about Chile on the hour-long drive to the Casablanca Valley. He waxed poetic about the nation’s love for avocados, he told us about the country’s national sport (rodeo – who knew?), he gushed about the most important meal of the day (lunch) and then he taught us about Chile’s fourth meal. In the time between lunch and dinner, they enjoy once (pronounced “own-say,” which translates to the number eleven in English). My understanding is that once is the Chilean version of happy hour, although it wasn’t clear if it includes two-for-one drink specials (it definitely includes avocados). Even more interesting is that the origin of once is related to the fact that the word “aguardiente” has eleven letters. If you’re not familiar with aguardiente, it is a very strong, inexpensive spirit similar to grappa. Apparently, Chileans back in the day started to use “once” as a code word for aguardiente and it stuck. Carlos may have been pulling our leg on that one, but at least it was a good story.
Stop #1: Casona Veramonte
After driving for about an hour, we arrived at our first stop: Casona Veramonte. According to Carlos, “casona” means “large house” and Casona Veramonte certainly lived up to the name. It was the largest of the four wineries we would visit that day, but very beautiful regardless. Our tasting started at 10am. This meant it was 8am in NYC, but I was ready to rise to the occasion. I was expecting to taste mostly white wines since the Casablanca Valley is known for its whites, but we ended up only tasting one white (Sauvignon Blanc) and three reds (Pinot Noir, Carmènére and a blend). Veramonte also had vineyards in the Colchagua Valley, which was better suited to produce reds since it was father inland, between the coastal mountain range and the Andes.
Our very sweet and informative tasting guide (not sure what else to call her since I didn’t get her name) provided a description of each wine, including unique details about its production, tasting notes, etc. I sometimes find these descriptions redundant, but I was very interested in everything she had to say. Maybe it’s because I’m becoming a more sophisticated wine taster? The jury is still out on that one, but I will give credit to the guide at Veramonte. We also learned some of the history of Carmènére, which was originally a French wine, but is now primarily grown in Chile after phylloxera wiped out the grape… or so it was thought. Carmènére was imported to Chile, where the growers assumed it was Merlot, and it was marketed as such. Eventually, somebody discovered that the two grapes were actually different and all was sorted out. I don’t drink Carmènére very often and I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite, but I found myself enjoying it in Chile. Maybe it’s better in its home country, maybe it was the surroundings, maybe I finally acquired the taste? I’ll have to wait until I’m back in the States to see.
Stop #2: Emiliana
The next stop was Emiliana, a smaller winery focused on organic wines. We did not have an appointment (most places in Chile do require appointments for tastings), so we were free to roam the charming property for as long as we wanted. Almost resembling a farm, the place was home to roosters, chickens, alpacas and a lily pond, all of which contributed to the organic production of the wine.
Once we had enough “oohing” and “aahing” over the adorable animals and their babies, it was on to the tasting room. I ordered a glass of the white blend since we were in the Casablanca Valley after all and tasted the Coyam red blend (from the Colchagua Valley). I liked it so much that I bought a bottle to take home.
Katie and I admired the view of sun-drenched vineyards and surrounding hills from our stools at the tasting room bar. “Sometimes I wish I could just bottle up these moments and re-live them when I’m sitting in my office,” Katie very poignantly said. I had a feeling I would be having a lot of those moments in the upcoming months. I was still trying to shake a sense of general anxiety now that my plan to quit work and travel had finally come to fruition, and I started to feel a sense of calm as we sipped our wine. I was right where I was supposed to be.
Stop #3: Casas del Bosque & Lunch at Tanino
At this point, we had drank at least a couple glasses of wine and were ready for some food (plus, Carlos kept talking about lunch and avocados, which wasn’t helping matters). However, we had another tasting first. We joined a group of about ten people sitting around a large table in a barrel room and listened to wine descriptions and jokes from our witty and irreverent wine guide. It was all very nice and fun, but I needed to eat.
Fortunately, Casas del Bosque also had a restaurant: Tanino. Carlos made us a reservation and Katie and I settled into our table. The server was pushing their four course tasting menu (with wine pairings) and I was tempted after all of Carlos’s descriptions of long, leisurely Chilean lunches, but we also had another winery to visit and a schedule to keep. I decided to be healthy and ordered a salad and the local hake (with a glass of sauvignon blanc, of course).
With several glasses of wine under our belts, Katie and I had both started to become a lot more chatty. We mostly talked about travel: our current trips, our favorite destinations in the past, the places we wanted to go in the future. I was thrilled to learn that she had stayed at the Tierra Patagonia, the exact hotel where I was going the next day. I will admit that it is a pretty pricey option, and I was expecting that most of the guests would be retirees and honeymooners, so I was relieved to hear that another single woman had recently stayed there. Maybe I would meet other solo travelers after all! Unlikely, Katie said, verifying my assumption about the demographics of the fellow guests. However, she did say that everyone was very friendly and sociable, and it was easy to meet people, so I wouldn’t feel lonely at all.
As we talked about our future travel bucket lists, Katie made an observation that will stick with me. “I keep trying to check places off my list, but I find that the more I travel, the more I learn about new places that I want to visit. Instead, I keep adding to my list.” So true. The more of the world that I see, the more that it seems to grow and grow. I had already started a “2020 and Beyond” travel list of places that I couldn’t fit into my 2019 travels and I know I’ll be constantly adding to it this year.
Stop #4: Bodegas RE
After a very enjoyable lunch, our final stop was at Bodegas RE, a family-owned winery that specializes in unique winemaking practices (i.e. they use giant clay pots instead of stainless steel for fermentation) and one-of-a-kind blends (they have a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend, for example). We were given a short tour and a few tastes, which were interesting, but nothing I wanted to purchase. We were both tired and I needed to get back to my hotel to pack and prepare for my verrrry early wake-up call the next morning, so I was ready to call it a day.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Chile wine country, and would highly recommend a trip to anyone visiting the area. The wines were mostly very good, the winery grounds were all beautiful and I got to spend a sunny and warm March day with great company. My trip was off to an excellent start!
