Sunday, January 13, 2019 – Wine tour in Colchagua Valley
We were up by 7 and got ready, then went to the lounge for breakfast. There was plenty of food there for our needs so we didn’t miss the buffet so much, though it had been really nice! We checked out, again in the club, and headed downstairs a little after 8:30. Jeanette and her dog Catalina, along with her friend Maria who will be dogsitting, were waiting outside. So we got to meet them too.
We loaded up the van, met our driver Ignacio, and set course for the south. Traffic was light and we made excellent time. We had time for a leisurely stop at a rest area for coffee and an ATM. We got to our first stop at Viña Casa Silva about 30 minutes early so we had an impromptu tour of the polo field and restaurant from Jeanette. A beautiful setting for some pictures!
The weather was cooperating as well. The vineyards were nestled into the valley floor, with hills framing them nicely. Lots of morning sunshine to make for a pretty picture!
Then it was time for our winery tour with Alejandro. After a brief introductory video, we went to tour the production facility. The old grape press has found a new life as a flower planter.
There are nice old buildings on the grounds. They were part of the original winery but production is now in a more modern facility. The old buildings are used for administrative purposes.
The old cellars are still stocked. We didn't grab any bottles along the way, though.
The owner is a bit of a car collector, it seems!
We toured the production facility for a bit. Here is the more modern cellar, where they age the more current vintages.
In a true entrepreneurial spirit, there is a 7-room hotel / B&B on the property as well. We got a quick tour there. This is a central courtyard; the rooms are in the building facing us.
Finally, after all that touring around, it was time to taste wines. There was a basic Carmenère which was a very tasty everyday wine, a mid-range one that was good but not special, a blend called “5th Generation” that we debated buying, and a high-end 2011 Carmenère that we both really liked.
So we took advantage of a volume discount, and bought two bottles of that 2011 and one entry-level. We figure we’ll drink the cheap one before we leave.
We continued on to Viña Viu Manent for lunch at their Restaurant Rayuela. This was a gorgeous outdoor setting! The tables were situated under arbors and umbrellas, next to a stream on one side and an equestrian field on the other side. They were training horses to do jumps while we settled in and looked at the menu.
I started with tuna ceviche and Chris had pil-pil shrimp. This time it was served with plenty of garlic and olive oil, more traditional than the time I had it at Awasi Atacama. Both were delicious with the winery’s Sauvignon Blanc.
Mains were skirt steak - 2 huge pieces - and an avocado/grilled chive side sauce for me.
The portion was huge. There must have been at least two full avocados in the side dish alone.
Chris had a rib-eye served a lo pobre – with fries, caramelized onions, and two fried eggs as her side! The mains came with a glass of Carmenère.
Dessert, as if we needed it, was a Chilenito for me (a few flat crispy pancakes stacked with a caramel sauce, then topped with lucuma ice cream) and Chris had sorbets. We were so stuffed! But it was unbelievably good.
We rolled back to our car and headed to our next stop. But not before we had another chance to enjoy the gorgeous weather today! I haven't checked to see what it was like at home, but it can't be as beautiful as this.
Since we were making such good time, we arrived at our next stop an hour early. So we had time for a bonus wine tasting at Viña Montes. Just another gorgeous vineyard in a beautiful setting. It's amazing!
There was a BBQ restaurant on site too. The smells were delicious, but we were so stuffed from lunch that we couldn't even think about more food.
But more wine? No problem there! Chris tried their rosé and I had some more Carmenère. We bought a bottle of the rosé for later. The tastings were a full glass each so they were a bargain at 2.000 to 3.000 each, and the bottle was only 5.000. So, only 10.000 pesos (about $15) for two glasses, a bottle, and a gorgeous view. A real bargain!
Then we were off to Lapostolle. This was a really cool place, with the rounded building drilled into a sloping portion of the mountainside, 25 meters deep. We entered at ground level, which was actually the top level of the winery.
There is a viewing platform at ground level - but it's the roof! So our tour started here, overlooking the vineyards.
The wooden projections are designed to look like barrel staves, in keeping with the building's purpose as a winery.
The grapes are brought into the top floor at ground level, where they are sorted and readied for the fermentation process. Everything is downstairs from here.
There is a cool pendulum suspended from the ceiling, which swings in the center of the stairway. Neat design here!
The grapes are then dropped into fermentation tanks one floor down from the entry floor.
Once fermentation is complete, the wine is then put into barrels. The barrels are one more floor down, so the wine flows down only using gravity. They don’t like to pump the juice because they think it damages the flavor. Interesting.
The tasting was on the lowest level, in a beautiful room with a high arched wooden ceiling with small lights like stars recessed into it.
The only thing to watch out for was that it was kind of chilly down here. We were deep underground and it was definitely at cellar temperature. They told you that it would be chilly, and had blankets if you needed them.
We tasted a Sauv Blanc with some Semillon which was nice, a pretty great merlot that was about $15, and a high-end blend that had scored 100 points from James Suckling so it was priced about $150. Great stuff but not 10 times as good as the $15 bottle.
I wonder what's down here? This is the owner's private stash, I suspect. Nice wine cellar! They didn't let us go down there to taste, though.
So we bought a bottle of their high-end Pisco, and a bottle of their Carmenère from the same line as the Merlot. Hopefully that will be as good.
Driving away, you can barely see the top level of the winery, at top center. It's tucked into the landscape nicely. The windows are where the fermentation tanks are in a previous photo.
Now we drove into Santa Cruz and checked in to our hotel around 6:00. Our hotel is in the center of town, next to the Colchagua museum which was an unexpected bonus, since admission was included in the hotel rate! We ran over ASAP since it closed at 7:00.
The museum was really well-done and we (Chris) could read enough Spanish to get most of what was there. Pretty much a crash course in all of Chilean history from ancient history to the present.
There were tons of fossils, artifacts, and other important exhibits.
They didn’t do a hard closing at 7:00, luckily, because we were there until almost 7:30 looking at all of the exhibits. It’s really nice.
Here is a copy of the Declaration of Chilean Independence.
And some random Pre-Incan statuary.
They had great geodes too.
And a feel-good exhibit about the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners. This is the capsule that brought them out of the mine, one by one. Amazing story.
Back to the room to have a sip of the rosé we bought, and then decide whether to try for any dinner. We weren’t hungry at all after the big lunch, so we decided to look for a light snack.
We wandered the town for a few blocks in every direction without finding any open places. There were two supermarkets so we grabbed a few local peaches and a bag of mini Bruschette (imported from Bulgaria, funny enough) and figured that we'd have a snack in the room.
Funny, when we approached the checkout with our peaches the cashier asked why we hadn’t weighed them. Apparently, weighing produce in Chile is a DIY proposal, where you put it on a scale, input a PLU code, and print your own label. So we did, which was easy, and had our light dinner for a princely sum of CLP 1.190. The two fresh peaches cost 200 pesos, or 30 cents! For TWO of them! Unreal.
So we made it back to our hotel room by 9:00, had snacks and rosé wine, then it was bedtime. Tomorrow is an early day, starting at 7:00. We're planning on one wine tasting north of Santiago before heading over the Andes to Argentina. Final destination, Mendoza!
We were up by 7 and got ready, then went to the lounge for breakfast. There was plenty of food there for our needs so we didn’t miss the buffet so much, though it had been really nice! We checked out, again in the club, and headed downstairs a little after 8:30. Jeanette and her dog Catalina, along with her friend Maria who will be dogsitting, were waiting outside. So we got to meet them too.
 |
| Viña Casa Silva, Colchagua Valley, Chile |
 |
| Viña Casa Silva, Colchagua Valley, Chile |
The weather was cooperating as well. The vineyards were nestled into the valley floor, with hills framing them nicely. Lots of morning sunshine to make for a pretty picture!
Then it was time for our winery tour with Alejandro. After a brief introductory video, we went to tour the production facility. The old grape press has found a new life as a flower planter.
There are nice old buildings on the grounds. They were part of the original winery but production is now in a more modern facility. The old buildings are used for administrative purposes.
 |
| Old Cellars, Viña Casa Silva, Colchagua Valley, Chile |
The old cellars are still stocked. We didn't grab any bottles along the way, though.
The owner is a bit of a car collector, it seems!
We toured the production facility for a bit. Here is the more modern cellar, where they age the more current vintages.
In a true entrepreneurial spirit, there is a 7-room hotel / B&B on the property as well. We got a quick tour there. This is a central courtyard; the rooms are in the building facing us.
 |
| Wine tasting, Viña Casa Silva, Colchagua Valley, Chile |
Finally, after all that touring around, it was time to taste wines. There was a basic Carmenère which was a very tasty everyday wine, a mid-range one that was good but not special, a blend called “5th Generation” that we debated buying, and a high-end 2011 Carmenère that we both really liked.
So we took advantage of a volume discount, and bought two bottles of that 2011 and one entry-level. We figure we’ll drink the cheap one before we leave.
 |
| Lunch with a view! Restaurant Rayuela, Santa Cruz, Chile |
We continued on to Viña Viu Manent for lunch at their Restaurant Rayuela. This was a gorgeous outdoor setting! The tables were situated under arbors and umbrellas, next to a stream on one side and an equestrian field on the other side. They were training horses to do jumps while we settled in and looked at the menu.
 |
| Tuna ceviche. Restaurant Rayuela, Santa Cruz, Chile |
I started with tuna ceviche and Chris had pil-pil shrimp. This time it was served with plenty of garlic and olive oil, more traditional than the time I had it at Awasi Atacama. Both were delicious with the winery’s Sauvignon Blanc.
 |
| Avocado and Chive. Restaurant Rayuela, Santa Cruz, Chile |
Mains were skirt steak - 2 huge pieces - and an avocado/grilled chive side sauce for me.
The portion was huge. There must have been at least two full avocados in the side dish alone.
 |
| Rib eye a lo pobre. Restaurant Rayuela, Santa Cruz, Chile |
Chris had a rib-eye served a lo pobre – with fries, caramelized onions, and two fried eggs as her side! The mains came with a glass of Carmenère.
 |
| Chilenito. Restaurant Rayuela, Santa Cruz, Chile |
Dessert, as if we needed it, was a Chilenito for me (a few flat crispy pancakes stacked with a caramel sauce, then topped with lucuma ice cream) and Chris had sorbets. We were so stuffed! But it was unbelievably good.
 |
| Scenery at Viña Viu Manent, Santa Cruz, Chile |
We rolled back to our car and headed to our next stop. But not before we had another chance to enjoy the gorgeous weather today! I haven't checked to see what it was like at home, but it can't be as beautiful as this.
 |
| Viña Montes, Santa Cruz, Chile |
Since we were making such good time, we arrived at our next stop an hour early. So we had time for a bonus wine tasting at Viña Montes. Just another gorgeous vineyard in a beautiful setting. It's amazing!
 |
| Cheers! Viña Montes |
There was a BBQ restaurant on site too. The smells were delicious, but we were so stuffed from lunch that we couldn't even think about more food.
But more wine? No problem there! Chris tried their rosé and I had some more Carmenère. We bought a bottle of the rosé for later. The tastings were a full glass each so they were a bargain at 2.000 to 3.000 each, and the bottle was only 5.000. So, only 10.000 pesos (about $15) for two glasses, a bottle, and a gorgeous view. A real bargain!
 |
| Clos Apalta / Lapostolle, Santa Cruz, Chile |
Then we were off to Lapostolle. This was a really cool place, with the rounded building drilled into a sloping portion of the mountainside, 25 meters deep. We entered at ground level, which was actually the top level of the winery.
There is a viewing platform at ground level - but it's the roof! So our tour started here, overlooking the vineyards.
The wooden projections are designed to look like barrel staves, in keeping with the building's purpose as a winery.
 |
| Panoramic Valley View, from Clos Apalta / Lapostolle, Santa Cruz, Chile |
 |
| A Long Way Down! Clos Apalta / Lapostolle, Santa Cruz, Chile |
The grapes are brought into the top floor at ground level, where they are sorted and readied for the fermentation process. Everything is downstairs from here.
 |
| Fermentation Tanks, Clos Apalta / Lapostolle, Santa Cruz, Chile |
The grapes are then dropped into fermentation tanks one floor down from the entry floor.
Once fermentation is complete, the wine is then put into barrels. The barrels are one more floor down, so the wine flows down only using gravity. They don’t like to pump the juice because they think it damages the flavor. Interesting.
 |
| Tasting Room, Clos Apalta / Lapostolle, Santa Cruz, Chile |
The tasting was on the lowest level, in a beautiful room with a high arched wooden ceiling with small lights like stars recessed into it.
The only thing to watch out for was that it was kind of chilly down here. We were deep underground and it was definitely at cellar temperature. They told you that it would be chilly, and had blankets if you needed them.
We tasted a Sauv Blanc with some Semillon which was nice, a pretty great merlot that was about $15, and a high-end blend that had scored 100 points from James Suckling so it was priced about $150. Great stuff but not 10 times as good as the $15 bottle.
I wonder what's down here? This is the owner's private stash, I suspect. Nice wine cellar! They didn't let us go down there to taste, though.
 |
| Clos Apalta / Lapostolle, Santa Cruz, Chile |
So we bought a bottle of their high-end Pisco, and a bottle of their Carmenère from the same line as the Merlot. Hopefully that will be as good.
Driving away, you can barely see the top level of the winery, at top center. It's tucked into the landscape nicely. The windows are where the fermentation tanks are in a previous photo.
Now we drove into Santa Cruz and checked in to our hotel around 6:00. Our hotel is in the center of town, next to the Colchagua museum which was an unexpected bonus, since admission was included in the hotel rate! We ran over ASAP since it closed at 7:00.
There were tons of fossils, artifacts, and other important exhibits.
They didn’t do a hard closing at 7:00, luckily, because we were there until almost 7:30 looking at all of the exhibits. It’s really nice.
Here is a copy of the Declaration of Chilean Independence.
And some random Pre-Incan statuary.They had great geodes too.
And a feel-good exhibit about the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners. This is the capsule that brought them out of the mine, one by one. Amazing story.
Back to the room to have a sip of the rosé we bought, and then decide whether to try for any dinner. We weren’t hungry at all after the big lunch, so we decided to look for a light snack.
We wandered the town for a few blocks in every direction without finding any open places. There were two supermarkets so we grabbed a few local peaches and a bag of mini Bruschette (imported from Bulgaria, funny enough) and figured that we'd have a snack in the room.Funny, when we approached the checkout with our peaches the cashier asked why we hadn’t weighed them. Apparently, weighing produce in Chile is a DIY proposal, where you put it on a scale, input a PLU code, and print your own label. So we did, which was easy, and had our light dinner for a princely sum of CLP 1.190. The two fresh peaches cost 200 pesos, or 30 cents! For TWO of them! Unreal.
So we made it back to our hotel room by 9:00, had snacks and rosé wine, then it was bedtime. Tomorrow is an early day, starting at 7:00. We're planning on one wine tasting north of Santiago before heading over the Andes to Argentina. Final destination, Mendoza!
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