But on with the description. Once again, I was accompanied in my adventures by Natalie. First on the agenda was the Cousiño-Marcul vineyard. It is located in the southeastern part of Santiago, just three metro stops (and a little walking) from my house. You can see the vineyard from the highway. I had heard that the walk from the Quilen metro stop was only 20 minutes. Thus, Natalie and I decided that we would walk - you know, take advantage of the nice morning air. We got off the metro at 10:15, so we had plenty of time to make it to the 11am tour, right? Long story short...it was a long, long walk. We finally got to the vineyard (after almost killing a dog startling it totally by accident onto a busy street and walking up to a taxi to ask for directions and possibly a ride, only to find the taxi driver, shall we say, already "engaged" with a female "fare") at 11:10 - yes, it was a really long walk.
Ahh, but it was worth every step. The tour had just started in the old barrel fermenting room. Nearly forty people were participating in the tour. Most were from Chile, but there was a sizable group from Brazil, as well as a contingent from Peru and the US. The old vats were huge, wooden barrels, made from a local wood. The winery stopped using the wooden vats for the maturation process about ten years ago as it started to modernize. We then moved into a newer section of the winery, were metal vats are used for the whites and the initial mastication for the reds. The reds are then moved to wooden barrels for a period of time, depending on the quality desired. We also paid a visit to the vineyard's museum and the cellar.
Also, two wines were offered for sampling. The first was a Sauvignon Gris. It was pinkish in color, but it was made clear that it was not a rosé, since the color was purely from the juice and not from any of the skin or seeds of the grapes. The Gris was flat out awesome - the nose had lots of floral tones and mellon and the mellon dominated the palate. It was refreshing and crisp, prefect for an already sweltering summer day. And it was a bargain at just over three dollars a bottle. I walked away with one and I plan to drink it sometime soon with some grilled fish and mango salsa. The tour group had a choice for their second wine, either the Reserved Cabernet Sauvignon or the Reserved Merlot. Both of these reserved wines were the winery's second tier. Cousiño-Marcul also has higher tiered reds, pure Cabernet and Merlot varietals and Bordeaux style blends. Natalie chose the Merlot and I chose the Cab, allowing us to taste both! Both reds were still a bit young. The Merlot was not herbaceous and carried a lot of plum. It was strong, possible too strong. The Cab really did not open up and had nothing on the back end. Both reds had great structure. Maybe after a bit more time in the bottle they would be good. Thus, I ended up not buying any reds - this time. Unfortunately, the wine store did not offer the possibility of further tastings. Thus, one has to buy blind. I am interested in their blends and will probably investigate these in the future. What I did buy, besides the Gris, was a bottle of the Antiguas Reservas Chardonnay and a bottle of their late harvest Riesling. The tour guide assured me that both were excellent.
After the long walk to the winery, Natalie and I hailed a cab back to the metro station and went back to my house to drop off our things - after all, we had another winery to visit. For lunch, we went to a corner schoperia ("schops" is what Chileans call draft beer, a word that betrays the German influence on the country) for a beer and to try the pizza. Good stuff.
The next winery on the agenda was the Santa Carolina winery, located in the south-central part of Santiago. Supposedly one of the oldest vineyards and wineries in Chile, the vineyards are no longer in the city. They are now in other parts of Chile and send the grapes to the winery in Santiago for processing. Neither Natalie or I had been to this part of Santiago before. So, we were a bit surprised when we got off the metro and found ourselves in a rather industrial and deserted (it was Saturday afternoon) part of town. The guide book said the winery was two blocks from the metro station. Long story short...after an hour of walking around the neighborhood in the over 90 degree heat and after consulting three people, we did find the winery...closed. The visit to this winery will have to wait for another day. Yet, it was a great day of shamelessly touring this wonderful city of Santiago.
No comments:
Post a Comment