WHERE'S THE WINE???

Not so easy to find wine tasting in Santiago.  Wineries yes, tasting rooms no.  You need a reservation for most of them and a car to get there.

Four days of tasting, 3 different ways - (1) bike & wine tour to 3 wineries, (2) metro & taxi to 2 wineries, and (3) winery restaurant.  Many of the wineries opened in the 1990’s, so they’re still fairly new. 

Bike & wine....for some reason I only ride a bike when in a foreign country.  We rode on hardpack rock/dirt roads (DUSTY) and visited 3 wineries in the Maipo Valley.  At Huelquen, we met the owner/winemaker and he poured a 2003 cabernet sauvignon, which is old considering most of the restaurants are serving 2010 and 2011 wines.  That 2003 runs $36, which seemed pricey for the quality.

Day 2 - Hopped on the metro for about an hour or so, then taxi to Concha y Toro, which is the 2nd largest winery in the world.  Their top label is Don Melchor and a 2008 cab runs about $114.  I had a glass with lunch - definitely not worth that money.  They have the tasting room thing down - $16 for a tour and 2 skimpy tastes....hordes of people go through there.

Day 3 -  again via metro to Cousino Macul a medium size winery (per their description) which produces 5 million bottles annually and exports 65% of their production.  Their top end label Lota is $120 which has been produced since 2004, and they only make 9,000 bottles/year.  Of that, only 140 get exported to the US.  I doubt it’s worth it. 

Lastly, happened up a restaurant owned or run by Miguel Torres winery.  I talked them into letting me do a flight of 3 cabs and 3 carmenere’s.  Although much more expensive than the wine tours, much more enjoyable - tasting 3 of their labels side by side for each varietal.  They were generous with the wine - a free taste of their new sparkling rose and a heavy handed pour of their late harvest reisling.  Plus 2 glasses of wine with my tapas lunch.  Definitely needed a nap after that outing.  My fav there was their Cordillera label, 2007 blend of 50% carmenere, 35% merlot, 15% petit verdot, but at over $50/bottle - not worth it.  Would rather have me some Anarchy!

For my palate, all of the wines are very flat on the finish.  For the most part, they remind me of table wine and the price is also along those lines, $7 - $12.  Hard for me to imagine paying for the high priced wines here.

New pics are on my site - enjoy.

Ciao!