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Published: November 17th 2011
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Day 9- Vina Casas del Bosque & Valparaiso
After breakfast at the hotel, which was a busy affair, we waited in the lobby of the hotel to be picked up. We were sort of waiting to see if we had been rumbled, and we were going to be asked to pay for the trip - luck was on our side. Our Guide explained that we would be travelling out of Santiago into the Casablanca Valley to a Winery, tasting a couple of wines, having lunch and then going to Valparaiso.
During the journey, and into the valley, we could see that much of the land was used for growing fruit, olives and almonds. We were also told that because the vineyards lie in a valley , it is especially good for growing white wine due to the cool air temperature. Even with that, they had to use blowers to elevate the temperature a couple of degrees to ensure there is no frost. They also do produce red wines, further up the valley sides. The valley is famous for a grape variety carmenere which they thought had been lost throughout the world. When exporting Merlot to the French in the
90´s, the french disputed that it was merlot, and upon further investigation, it was found to be the lost grape carmenere. Now this is produced exclusively in the valley, although the argentinians have tried to grow it too in more recent times. We passed a number of wineries, all of which offer tours. Our winery looked very nice and we were given a few minutes to sit in the sun before the tour started. Unfortunately,
the guide was on her first tour, and had a script, but really was not very good. In fact it was a good job our guide had been on a number of the tours before, and was able to fill in the blanks, as she was not really able to tell us anything, or answer any of the questions we had. The Chilean wine industry is actually run by lots of rich families and industrialists as a bit of a hobby, so there are no government subsidies available to assist, and they have a number of treaties with other countries to keep the prices stable. After the short tour, we were taken into the salon, and another guide explained that we would be tasting three
wines before lunch, starting with the Sauvingnon Blanc. We put the whole of our noses in to smell the fruits, and had to take the wine to the back of our mouths to appreciate the tangyness.
Next we tried the Chardonnay, which was completely different, in colour taste and flavour. We preferred the Sauvignon, but for a chardonnay it was not bad. Finally, we tried the Carmenere, which really was very nice, taking to the roof of our mouths for maximum flavour appreciation.
We then went through to lunch, which was a set menu, and really was very nice. We were sat with people who were to be our fellow travellers in the coming days, so it was nice to exchange stories with people had had done a lot of travelling both already on this trip and previously. There was the Sauvingnon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon served with the meal. The starter was a salad with olives, avocado and goats cheese, followed by lamb steak and potatoes and finished with a caramel dessert. We then just had time to look at the shop and furnish ourselves with a couple of bottles to sample later in the week,
before we got in the coach to go to Valparaiso.
Valparaiso used to be a very important port before the building of the Panama Canal meant that ships no longer had to go round the Cape of Good Hope. It is built on the hillside, and many of the houses are on wooden stilts, all of which are painted different colours. We walked around some of the artisan district where a number of the houses are covered in graffiti which is more like art. We then went on the oldest of the 15 surviving funiculars which service the hillside, before heading to the main square and then to for a to the waterside. We then returned to Santiago, by which time it was quite late.
We headed out for tea at Patio Bellavista, choosing the Dublin Irish bar to eat in. Once again it was busy and bustling with people. We got a quick glimpse into one of the Cuban bars, where there were couples tangoing - something we are hoping to catch in Argentina.
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