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Published: June 29th 2017
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Geo: -33.3266, -71.4032
You love wine. You spend all morning wretchedly vomiting. You love Chilean Wine in particular. You feel like death. You are in Chile. You have a wine tasting tour booked for today. You couldn't keep your breakfast down this morning. What do you do? Well its not like you really have any options. You suck it up, get on the tour and drink wine. You try to enjoy the experience as much as possible.
We were picked up at the hotel by Sebastian of Servitour Tours at 8.30am. We had wanted to go to the famous Mendoza Wine District across the border in Argentina, but turned out it was 5-6 hours drive rather than 2-3 hours as wed hoped. So instead, we picked this tour to visit Casablanca, just 45 minutes out of Santiago, in a valley between the capital and Valparaiso. You could pick 1, 2 or 3 wineries at different prices to visit. Each would include a tasting and tour of the winery. We did a little online research beforehand and opted to go with Veramonte and Emiliana Estates, both organic winemakers.Turned out it was just the two of us on this tour.
After 45 minutes deafening
and disgusting our driver and guide with my coughing, we arrived at Veramonte. I tried to assure them I did not need to see a mortician and drinking wine was definitely a good idea. They valley itself was very pretty, even with a bit of cloud and morning chill. The main building at Veramonte was huge. We met a tour guide who took us around the grounds, showing us the vines, where wine was made and stored, and giving an explanation of the process. Next up a tasting. Whilst included in our tour cost, I note that in Chile, tasting appears to be expensive. Around $10-15AUD, rather than free at most places in Victoria. Its only 3-5 tastings too, rather than up to 10. However the portions are almost a whole standard glass. We tried 4 here; 1 white and 3 reds, and loved them. We left with a bottle of Savignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.
We re met our tour guide and driver and headed down the road to Emiliana Estate. There were plenty of animals roaming around here, free range chickens and some off duty llamas, used for mowing the lawns. The tour of the grounds here was in
a small group. We walked through the scenic grounds, learning about different grapes, and transition to becoming organic. They had a beautiful organic vegetable garden too. Everything looked so fresh, green and healthy.. until I passed through coughing and it went brown. We tasted 4 wines here, a white, rose and 2 reds. Each was better than the last. We left with a bottle of Pinot Noir and red Blend. The final stop was a buffet lunch at Rio Tinto. Basically $30AUD each, but all you can eat meats, salad bar and desserts and all you can drink as well (including beer and wine!). Food quality was excellent. It would have been great value if we were well and remotely hungry or thirsty. After lunch, the tour concluded and we were back at the hotel by 3.30pm. I literally went straight to bed to sleep. Well, maybe after another jacuzzi. We ventured out local for an hour at 8 for just a fruit juice and gelati, then back to bed. Tomorrow we have a bigger, full day tour towards the Andes.
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