Day 3: WINE! And some luggage

Today is one of the few days where we have something formal planned: a wine tour! We are usually the “we’ll do it ourselves” type but that would involve driving after wine tasting which is no fun at all. So we booked a tour and joined 10 others plus a tour guide and driver for a day of vinotourism in the Maipo Valley.

After a hearty breakfast, we were the first pickup for the tour. In the 1 hour that it took to get through the city with the additional pickups, we were joined by a father and daughter from Stornaway (LOVE the island accents!), two new lawyers from England, two young lassies (as they say at home) from London, two more from the Netherlands, and then two lovely ladies from Austrailia. In our comfy minivan with Juanito at the where and Carmalita doing commentary on Chilean history, we were off to the Maipo Valley. (Side note: our van apparently interupted a news conference that the mayor of Santiago was having on the stree outside the government building. If anyone sees that footage with a van of waving tourists in the background, please let me know.)

Our first stop was a family farmsted/winery that produces a relatively small amount for local consumption. We learned about the history and the “production process” – very human capital intensive! And then we got to taste the wine – the most generous pours I have ever had at a winery. Interspersed with the wine were generous shots of pisco, the distilled grape liquor that is a staple in Chile and Peru. So our Chilean breakfast was an excellent first stop.

After our tasting and visit to the family alpacas (so cute!), we were off to the next vinyard. A slightly larger establishment with fabulous views and an equally lovely carmeniere (which may have purchased a few bottles of… 😯

Then to another winery where there was no formal tasting but instead we got lunch. To accompany some delicious risotto, we polished off a bottle of lovely rosé. By this time we were all very friendly and a wonderful time was being had by all. Our final stop was a very established winery where we toured the vinyards and then tasted a variety of both red and white wines. While I consider myself well versed in the production of wine, it was very interesting to hear how different families decided to implement their dream in the southern hemisphere.

After much imbibing (muchas bebidas!) it was time to head back to the city. On the way I got word that my case had finally arrived from Madrid. You may recall that we were never in Madrid but apparently my luggage got the opportunity. (I feel like this is the old Groucho Marx joke about shooting an elephant in his pajamas!) We returned from a day of drinking to my lost belongings and were very happy to celebrate with dinner at a local restaurant that featured a bottle of carmeniere from one of the visited wineries.