First of the Summer Wine

The first Center Rita winery was founded in 1880 by Susan Dom Dom go figure name is denture in the fetal soil at the Rio might pay Valley.

( Ha ha - thought I would keep that in. I was trying the talk to text feature. It's not as great as it could be - it can't understand my Spanish! Let's start again.)

The first Santa Rita winery was founded in 1880 by a certain Don Domingo Fernandez Concha in the fertile valley of the Rio Maipo Valley, nestled in the foothills of the Andes. The tour starts near Casa Real a large Pompeian style house, that houses restaurants, wine shop, and the Museo Andino.

It was a great relief to us, when checking-in a few days earlier, we were informed that the bus would pick us up RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR DOOR. We thought we had to find our way right across the other side of town by 8 o'clock in the morning! That put us in a good frame of mind.

The weather was forecasted to be 24°, but the day dawned a little chilly, and never really improved. Donned in our biking gear, we were picked up, right on time, by a big red, brand new Turistik bus and stopping along the way to pick up some others, were taken to Parque Arauco, the main depot for Turistik. There we transferred to another bus and were soon whistling along the highway towards the Maipo Valley and the Santa Rita Winery. Along the way, Stephanie, one of the tour guides, kept us entertained in both Spanish and English by telling us a little of the history of the country and local wine industry.

The Chilean wine history began with the Spanish conquerors. In the mid 1500s the Catholic missionaries introduced wine grapes to produce wine for mass. But it wasn't until the later part of the 1800s that they started to get really serious about wine making and imported many different varieties  from France along with some French winemakers. Chile is blessed in having diverse terroirs so they are able to produce everything from Blancs on the coast to Merlots and Cabernet Savignon near the mountains.

Here we picked up our trusty steeds. I have to say, I don't think I have ever ridden a more uncomfortable bike. 

The main Casa.

Beautifully laid out gardens.

Filipe ( there's a common theme going on here) was our guide for this part of the tour. Along farm tracks we travelled and our first stop was at some of the oldest vines in the vineyard. These vines were between 80 to 100 years old. They produced quality not quantity.

It was very early in the growing season and the vines were just beginning to bloom.

                                              

Shame about the mist. We couldn't really get a good view of the mountains, but it did keep the temperature at a pleasant level.

Next stop - where the action takes place. The stainless steel tanks is where the first fermentation takes place. They were also trialling a few old fashioned methods, in clay amphorae and the concrete egg seen below.

The mist lent a certain atmosphere, so to speak, to our surroundings. We had a real sense of being in a very special place.

The Carmen vineyard, was extablished in1850 and is now incorporated into the larger entity. We stopped here to have our first sampling - a Savignon Banc, which frankly made our lips pucker. I manfully finished mine but Rich not so discreetly tipped his out. 

Carmen's claim to fame, was the re-discovery of the grape variety, Camenere, which was thought to be extinct since the mid 1900s. Phylloxera affected grape varieties all over the world, but didn't seem to reach Chile's shores. Many varieties were  wiped out and it was only a chance visit from a French winemaker that a particular variety, which had been produced as Merlot, was discovered to be the long lost grape, Carmenere. ( I've just googled it to check my facts, and it's just as they told us, according to Wikipedia). 

We slowly made our way back to the main building. It was supposed to be a 10k ride, but I would be surprised if it was that much. Still it was great fun and we had buddied up with an Ozzie called Collin. So nice to have someone to talk to who could understand what we were saying. 

On our return we were handed over to yet another young chap, who ushered us down to the cellar  and wine tasting room.

First he poured us all another Savignon Blanc ( which we don't really like) and explained what we were going to experience and the steps we were supposed take to sample a wine.

" Oh, I see some of us have jumped straight to step three!" he said, looking straight at me.

"Don't worry, this is a friendly tasting."

Whateva! All that faffing around, didn't make the wine taste any better.

After trying a couple of reds , ( didn't like them either), we were presented with our very own Santa Rita wine glasses. Score! They were very nice and I was very reluctant to leave them behind as a donation to our apartment when we left ( that was one vital thing, the apartment lacked).  Having watched the baggage handlers at the airport in action, I had to concede to Rich that he was probably right, and it would have been very difficult to get them home in one piece.

Wine tasting complete, we just had enough time to visit the shop before being bundled back on to the bus. It was a bit disappointing we didn't even have time to visit the cafe as it was 1 o'clock and all we had had since breakfast was some water and some wine. But all in all it was a lovely experience and they even delivered us right back to our door.

My cousin Rob, suggested that this was some very bad wine "because it was behind bars!"

 

                                           

Not sure what this was for exactly. But it looked like a pedal powered bar - could be fun.

Once we were back home, we decided to hit the streets to look for some food. I thought it might be fun to try one of the little restaurants at the fish market. It was only a short walk away, probably 15 minutes at the most. It was the weekend and the streets seemed even more busy. We shoved our way in and the place was frenetic. We popped out the other side like a champagne cork and wandered aimlessly around for a while, soaking in the sights and sounds.

I wanted to cuddle this llama too, but I was afraid the man was going to charge me.

Well constructed bike lanes in the inner city.

My Huesillos man.

Walking back by a different route, we stopped at this street cart to see what it was he was selling. He tried his best to explain but it was all Spanish to me.

" You try"

 I indicated that I would try one and pointed to the smallest cup for 700 pesos. I handed over a 1000 note and he handed me back a small coin. I thought he had ripped me off but I later realised he had given me a discount. My faith in human nature has been restored.

Mote con heusillo is a Chilean non-alcoholic summer time drink. It is made, usually, with dried peaches in a very sweet liquid ( nectar?) and poured on top of husked boiled wheat. It's... it's... it's.. it's actually quite horrible, but we enjoyed the fact it was a genuine cultural experience.

We decided to head back to the restaurant we went to with Will the previous day, for a very late lunch/ early tea. We ordered tortillas and as an aperitif decided to have another cultural experience - pisco sour!

The Chilean grape is not only famous for the wine, it is also the basis of pisco. It contains 30-45%alcohol  and when added to a sweetened lemon syrup ( and some other stuff, I think) , it's called a Pisco Sour. Rich was ambivalent about it, but I thought it was a bit too yum.

 I thought this street musician, who came and played outside the restaurant, looked like an ugly doppelgänger  of Emma's Mark.

The courtyard of our apartment building. Too cool for pool.

The end to another successful day.