Officially working on a Masters of Development and Procrastination Management, I've decided to diligently continue my studies this evening. A quick post about our afternoon spent wine tasting should do the trick.
After sleeping in too late, a quick breakfast of stale croissants, rice cakes with funky strawberry jelly, and instant coffee we ventured out. Making a few stops for maps, bus cards, and vague directions we finally stumbled across the 10 bus and were en route to the countryside. Getting off the bus about 30 mins too early in the center of Maipú (not where the vineyards are) we hopped another bus full of giggling teenagers on their way to school and got off at the first bike rental place we saw.
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Our nice guide describing the
original process of stomping
grapes inside this leather tub. |
Mr. Hugo's had decent Tripadvisor reviews and since we felt fairly confident that my guiding abilities could be used in a foreign land, we opted out of hiring a guide and simply took the bikes -with helmets of course. A twenty kilometer round trip circuit with more than ten stop offs at wineries, olive oil and chocolate factories would keep us busy for an entire day. But since we arrived around 2pm, knowing that most places closed at 5, we narrowed our options to the olive/chocolate factory (my top pick), the next door wine museum and large bodega
La Rural (Maria's choice), and the boutique winery Carinae (Fernanda's election). We chose well.
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| At the Museum |
The first was a quick explanation of the olive oil making process followed by a tasty assortment of oils, olives, chutneys, marmalades, dulce de leche, chocolates and liquors. We decided to collectively purchase a jar of cabernet sauvignon syrup with hopes of creating an amazing dish with almonds, brie, and fruit to accompany our bottle of wine that we purchased at the next stop.
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This is an example of the
traditional way to grow
vines. Now they are more
commonly shorter which
makes for easier picking. |
An extensive tour of Bodega La Rural and the largest wine museum in Latin America -with over 5,000 artifacts of incredible quality- culminated with a wine tasting that was not very impressive. They obviously make their house wine crappy so that you feel you need to buy a bottle of higher caliber just to make sure that they know how to make a decent product. Fortunately, your entrance fee to the museum is deducted from any purchase, so we combined out discounts and bought the most expensive bottle possible. I'll let you know how it is once we try it with our wine syrup. Overall, it was really interesting to learn about the vine growing process, fermentation, the barrels, wine varieties and the history of the region.
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| Enjoying our wine and cheese |
After rushing out the door, we were left with about an hour to ride the 10 kilometers on half country road half bike trails to get to
Carinae, a much smaller and younger operation owned by a French couple. Being my first shot at wine tours, I was satisfied to see the larger scale production compared to a much smaller bodega. The difference is rather astonishing but the latter is definitely more charming; romantic if you will. The owner's love for astronomy is reflected in the name (a constellation that sits directly over the winery during the time of the harvest) and each line is similarly named after constellations. We chose a larger tasting this time around. Exhausted and famished after rushing to make it before closing time, we tried over 5 different wines with a plate of fresh goat cheese and house made salami. It's totally true, they serve more than a taste! We finished up rather quickly however when our guide informed us that he was late to pick up his daughter. The sun was on it's decent anyway and frequent reminders from Mama Maria that we didn't want to ride back in the dark kept us moving along. The twilight hues offered the perfect lighting for a few tipsy photo breaks, but we made it back before sunset.
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If you look closely enough,
you'll see our police
escort on the right side just over
Fer's shoulder. I was trying
to snap an inconspicuous shot.
Think he noticed?
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The locals however, definitely weren't going to leave it to us to make it home safely. I'd heard tales of official police escorts but was surprised when an officer on a dirt bike pulled up next to Fernanda in the back and started up a conversation. Going at the pace of our pedaling, he patiently rode with us all the way back while radioing to dispatch to call Mr. Hugo and let him know that his bikes were safe and sound. I can only imagine the sloppy scenes they've had to deal with after someone partakes in the ten-stop tour. Good thing we woke up late. Surely we'd have failed the straight line test for the ride back after a full day of tastings. Bikes returned, a bowlful of cheetos later and a sleepy bus ride in the dark, we were at the Hotel snuggled into bed resting for the next day's activity.
A few quick interesting facts: Many farmers cover their crop with a netting to protect the delicate grapes from hail storms which are known to ruin an entire year's worth of work. The Medocino government often prevents hail from dropping over the region by sending charges into storm clouds inciting the premature hail storms before they are over the bodegas. La Rural also has rose plants in rows on the ends of rows of vines. No, it's not to make the atmosphere more romantic. It's an early warning system for pests and crop killing diseases. Roses are very susceptible to the same ailments as grapevines and will show symptoms before the vines, giving farmers the chance to react according.
