Day 10: Winin' and Dinin'
This day was given to my sister and her boyfriend, to winophiles who took to Chile naturally when planning our day in the wine country. Our destination was a couple of the wineries bordering the town of Santa Cruz, deep inside the Colchagua Wine Valley, one of the main wine regions within Chile.
The drive to the wine country itself was a journey of increasingly pictuaresque sites, manicured rows of vines draped across the plains and the low hills behind them. The drive down to Santa Cruz also gave us another experience with Chile's brilliant highway system. The only complaint is they are largely two lanes at most, but the road quality is perfect and the rest stops well maintained and fancy, truly better than most American highways.
The roads around thee Santa Cruz area were a little more primitive, one load pathways with trucks and tractors slowing down traffic, but hidden behind them were perfect estates of wine nirvana. Our first stop actually was for lunch at the winery restaurant at Viu Manant Winery. The restaurant was named Rayuela, and coupled as the #1 restaurant in the Santa Cruz region per tripadvisor. The setting was perfect, with the five of us seated underneath a large fig tree providing the perfect shade and pathway for wind to make the hot day actually incredible pleasant. The location was excellent, with pots of fresh herbs, figs growing on the trees, the rows of vines in the distance.
The food met its reputation, with us sharing a nice pumpkin soup and fresh Ceviche made peruvian style, this time with the added Peruvian element of large lightly cooked corn kernals. Our mains were hake, strip steak and a lamb shank, all cooked well, accompanied by truly giant side portions of creak corn and spicy mashed potatoes (normal mash with an added mystery chili). The food was great, and the we needed the added sustenance with the wines to come.
Both wineries we went to for tours, Viu Manent (where we had lunch), and Del Monte, mandated a wine tour to accompany the wine tasting. Del Monte, a little more simplistic, had its wine tour consist mostly of a long drive through the vines on a tractor carraige, including up the hill a bit, and then a quick tour of the manufacturing facility, and then straight to tasting - four wines, three red and one white. I'm nowhere near intelligent enough about wine to comment at all on the quality.
Viu Manent was more bulked up. The tour had the same element of carrying us in carraiges through the winery grounds, but instead of a tractor it was horse-drawn. Their tourguide had a natural command of English, including a perfectly metered sense of humor. Their run through the manufacturing facility was more exhaustive. To boot, they also gave us one additional wine (one white + four red). Again, no need to show my ignorance by commenting on the taste or fill.
We then went to the town of Santa Cruz, which is more like what I had in mind for Chile, and in many ways reminded me of Queretaro in Mexico where I was on assignment. Nowhere near low-income for the country, with a decent city center, but signs of poverty and 3rd world littered (no pun intended) as you go away from the center. Our hotel was bordering the Plaza de Armas (every good Chilean city seems to have one of these). Our dinner was not, and the drive over there did give some increasingly nerve-racking moments of "where the hell are we going?". Luckily for us, the destination was as quaint, small-town perfection.
Dinner was at Etiqueta Negra, though after a large lunch and multiple wine tastings, we weren't in the mood for a full dinner. Etiqueta Negra is a true mom-and-pop operation, stationed mostly in the back of an unassuming house. The patio that housed the seating area was under a nice canopy, with the sides built up with flower pots and greenery. In the distance was the receding sun combining with the night sky to produce a type of purple I hadn't remembered seeing before. Even counting our venture through Tierra del Fuego island, I may had not felt more remote previously, but also more at peace.
The trip to Santa Cruz can be a multi-day affair for those wine inclined. I'm sure my sister and boyfriend could have done that. Given the setting, the small-town nature that I have a particular inclination for, and the seamless perfection of the look of a well maintained winery, maybe for me as well. At this point, there has been no part of this trip that I would not want to repeat again at some later date.
This day was given to my sister and her boyfriend, to winophiles who took to Chile naturally when planning our day in the wine country. Our destination was a couple of the wineries bordering the town of Santa Cruz, deep inside the Colchagua Wine Valley, one of the main wine regions within Chile.
The drive to the wine country itself was a journey of increasingly pictuaresque sites, manicured rows of vines draped across the plains and the low hills behind them. The drive down to Santa Cruz also gave us another experience with Chile's brilliant highway system. The only complaint is they are largely two lanes at most, but the road quality is perfect and the rest stops well maintained and fancy, truly better than most American highways.
The roads around thee Santa Cruz area were a little more primitive, one load pathways with trucks and tractors slowing down traffic, but hidden behind them were perfect estates of wine nirvana. Our first stop actually was for lunch at the winery restaurant at Viu Manant Winery. The restaurant was named Rayuela, and coupled as the #1 restaurant in the Santa Cruz region per tripadvisor. The setting was perfect, with the five of us seated underneath a large fig tree providing the perfect shade and pathway for wind to make the hot day actually incredible pleasant. The location was excellent, with pots of fresh herbs, figs growing on the trees, the rows of vines in the distance.
The food met its reputation, with us sharing a nice pumpkin soup and fresh Ceviche made peruvian style, this time with the added Peruvian element of large lightly cooked corn kernals. Our mains were hake, strip steak and a lamb shank, all cooked well, accompanied by truly giant side portions of creak corn and spicy mashed potatoes (normal mash with an added mystery chili). The food was great, and the we needed the added sustenance with the wines to come.
Both wineries we went to for tours, Viu Manent (where we had lunch), and Del Monte, mandated a wine tour to accompany the wine tasting. Del Monte, a little more simplistic, had its wine tour consist mostly of a long drive through the vines on a tractor carraige, including up the hill a bit, and then a quick tour of the manufacturing facility, and then straight to tasting - four wines, three red and one white. I'm nowhere near intelligent enough about wine to comment at all on the quality.
Viu Manent was more bulked up. The tour had the same element of carrying us in carraiges through the winery grounds, but instead of a tractor it was horse-drawn. Their tourguide had a natural command of English, including a perfectly metered sense of humor. Their run through the manufacturing facility was more exhaustive. To boot, they also gave us one additional wine (one white + four red). Again, no need to show my ignorance by commenting on the taste or fill.
We then went to the town of Santa Cruz, which is more like what I had in mind for Chile, and in many ways reminded me of Queretaro in Mexico where I was on assignment. Nowhere near low-income for the country, with a decent city center, but signs of poverty and 3rd world littered (no pun intended) as you go away from the center. Our hotel was bordering the Plaza de Armas (every good Chilean city seems to have one of these). Our dinner was not, and the drive over there did give some increasingly nerve-racking moments of "where the hell are we going?". Luckily for us, the destination was as quaint, small-town perfection.
Dinner was at Etiqueta Negra, though after a large lunch and multiple wine tastings, we weren't in the mood for a full dinner. Etiqueta Negra is a true mom-and-pop operation, stationed mostly in the back of an unassuming house. The patio that housed the seating area was under a nice canopy, with the sides built up with flower pots and greenery. In the distance was the receding sun combining with the night sky to produce a type of purple I hadn't remembered seeing before. Even counting our venture through Tierra del Fuego island, I may had not felt more remote previously, but also more at peace.
The trip to Santa Cruz can be a multi-day affair for those wine inclined. I'm sure my sister and boyfriend could have done that. Given the setting, the small-town nature that I have a particular inclination for, and the seamless perfection of the look of a well maintained winery, maybe for me as well. At this point, there has been no part of this trip that I would not want to repeat again at some later date.
