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Published: April 30th 2006
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Admirals Club - SJC
We're off to South America! After a year of planning we left for San Jose airport for our Chile and Argentina wine adventure.
We get off to a bit of an ackward start when Bryan offered to bring back a bottle or wine for the American Airlines ticket agent and she responded that she was a reformed alcoholic!
While waiting for our flight in the Admirals Club we chatted with a guy from Jackson Hole, Wyoming who had traveled to Chile and Argentina. He was happy to recount his adventures and was adament that we would have a great time. He ranted and raved about the Palace Alvear Hotel and explained where the key shopping sites were around the hotel.
Arrival in Santiago, Chile
We landed in Santiago approximately 7:00 AM local time (same as Eastern) just as the sun was rising.
It is a beautiful time of year to visit Chile. The days are warm and sunny and the nights are cool. It reminds us very much of Northern California.
After getting off the plane, our first stop is at the phone place to get Bryan a local SIM card for his BlackBerry. That took almost an hour! (And
Sunrise
Sunrise while descending to Santiago still no e-mail on his BlackBerry). We picked up our Avis car and headed west to the Casablanca Valley.
Veramonte Vineyards
The first winery of the day is Veramonte. This winery is owned by the same guy that owns Quintessa in Napa and a consortium of other Napa wineries. It is a big winery with massive production (3 million liters a year). Ultimately, it is part of the Constelletion Brand Group. The steel tanks are enormous. The winery had a very Californian feel to it -- oils, vinegars, books, clothing and other general knick knacks for sale.
We start our tasting at 10:30 AM Eastern (a bit early, even for us, as we've just been on the red eye and it is 7:30 AM Pacific).
We tasted the following wines:
(1) 2005 Veramonte Savingon Blanc -- grassy, peppery, light; $10; we rated it a 5/10.
(2) 2004 Veramonte Chardonney -- light, easy; $10; we rated it a 5/10.
(3) 2003 Veramonte Cabernet Savignon -- leathery, tight, not much finish; $10; we rated it a 7/10.
(4) 2003 Veramonte Primus -- this is a merlot, carmanere, cab blend; forward fruit, big, Californian style
blend; best of the bunch; $22; we rated it a 8/10.
Alright, now that we've warmed up, we are ready to go.
Vina Indomita
Our next stop is Indomita. This winery is owned by four Chileans and a Dutch distributor and was built in 2001 and ships its grapes in from other valleys (as well as grow on site). It is a very modern design; also with a high capacity (3.3 million liters a year). They export 95%!o(MISSING)f their wine to Europe and 5%!r(MISSING)emains in Chile (no U.S. exports).
We tasted the following wines:
(1) 2005 Indomita Savingnon Blanc (Central Valley) -- floral, citrus, light, pleasant; we rated it a 7/10.
(2) 2005 Indomita Cabernet Savignon (Maipo Valley) -- this had a nice bouquet but that's about it; we rated it a 4/10.
(3) 2002 Indomita Gran Reserve Merlot -- apparently 18 months in French oak and from a single vineyard; bleck! we rated it a 3/10.
Indomita may not have had the best wines but it had a fabulous restaurant and that's where we had lunch.
We were a little disappointed that we couldn't get exactly what we
wanted to get off the menu (two items that we ordered weren't available) but we were both pleased with the quality, taste and presentation of the food. The food was wonderful.
We went in to lunch about 12:45 PM and we were the only people in the restaurant. By the time we left at 3:00 PM the place was full -- a perfect example of how late they eat in South America.
During lunch, Jo-Anne received two calls on her mobile that she didn't answer. The third time it rang, Jo-Anne answered and it was Nik's close friend, Ryan, calling to speak with Nik. Jo-Anne let Ryan know that Nik was busy (scheduled for photos and baseball) and that he would see Ryan at Kodi's party tomorrow. She didn't tell him that she was speaking to him from South America!
Matetic Vineyards
Our next winery was the Gem of the Day -- Matetic Vineyards (brand name is EQ). This winery is in the San Antonio Valley. It is one of the few organic wineries in Chile.
Matetic is totally off the beaten path (in fact, Bryan asked three times if we hadn't missed it and
Merlot at Veramonte
These will be harvested in the next two weeks. gone too far!). The bodega was amazing -- a huge ultra-modern shrine to wine made of glass, steel and rock. The design and architecture, with a focus on fitting into the Chilean countryside was absolutely outstanding.
Our tour guide was Bruno from Switzerlad. He was the somillier at the winery. At first, Bruno appeared to have a laid-back and somewhat stand offish manner. After pointing out the huge taranchilla and a few lizards, and getting into the tasting room, Bruno turned out to be as much of a gem as the bodega. He walked us through a spectacular flight of wines.
We tasted the following (with slices of organic sheep cheese and crackers):
(1) 2005 EQ Savingnon Blanc -- served a little too warm but still an amazing bouquet and fruity taste; $15; 90 points in Wine Spectator; we rated this a 9.5/10 and bought a bottle (to do a taste test against the New Zealand Cloudy Bay (with Bob W.).
(2) 2004 EQ Chardonney -- very nice wine, creamy, balanced; we rated it a 9/10.
(3) 2004 EQ Pinot Noir -- very elegant wine, great nose, velvety smooth with hints of caramel; we loved
Bryan Marking Location on GPS
Instead of leaving breadcrumbs (or spillage of any type), Bryan was tracking our progress with his GPS. this wine and we are NOT Pinot fans; $30; we rated it a 9.5/10 and bought two bottles.
(4) 2003 Corralillo Reserve (blend of 80%!M(MISSING)erlot and 20%!M(MISSING)albec); this was OK, pretty tight, tanniny, big; we rated this a 7/10.
(5) 2004 EQ Syrah -- interesting nose (reminded me of weiners -- Bruno more appropriately called the bouquet "meaty"), earthy, smooth but still needs some time; this was rated 91 points in Wine Spectator; we rated it 8/10.
All of these wines were really expressive and very different.
After visiting the bodega and tasting wines, we gave Bruno a ride to his car at the restaurant and guest house (15 minutes away) where he gave us a quick tour.
Casa Silva
The drive to Casa Silva was a challenge - we finally made it there at 8:30 PM and had dinner reservations at 9:30 PM.
Dinner was accompanied by the following bottles:
(1) 2004 Casa Silva Grand Reserve Carmenere (Los Lingues) - spicy, leathery and full; $12; we rated it a 8/10.
(2) 2004 Casa Silva Grand Reserve Shiraz (LOLOL) - not a big bouquet, a deep berry-red color, smooth and
Veramonte Tasting
Stairs to Veramonte. velvety; $12; we rated it a 8.5/10.
After dinner, Jo-Anne diligently completed the blogging for the day, which we are both learning and need to get much faster at.
More to follow ...
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Billa
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Veramonte
Hi Jo-Anne and Bryan Sounds like a great trip - just to note, Augustin Hunees, is no longer part of Constellation - while Veramonte is, he is now with Qunitessa only and planning new things from Latin America. I could be wrong but I believe that is the case now. Man - your wine scores are tough - I have a bottle of Veramonte SB in the fridge - will taste and compare scores.