Guy on th bus had a nice bouce for radio. kate took the bus fo free. A bus to two metros later, we were in Penalolel, a new comuna on our checklist. We came to visit Cousino y Macul, a beautiful vineyard with hourly tours in multiple languages.
While waiting at reception, we ran into our Brazilian friends we'd met in San Pedro. This was an excellent illustration of how small the world is.
Because everyone but us spoke Portuguese we got a PRIVATE TOUR, and for student prices. (This meant we could spend more money on wine!) The tour included an upclose look and history of the vineyard-to-storefront process of Cousino winemaking. Our guide Diego was very friendly and nice but not at all in a creepy way. He is studying to be a sommelier and going to Sonoma next week and was eager to practice English and share his wine knowledge with us. On the tour, we got to stand next to giant barrels and reminisce about our wine tour in Jerez, at 10 a.m. in late September 2011 with our study abroad friends. Next came the destemming room, where ten women sift through grapes by hand to pull out branches and stems before sending the tiny blueberry-like bulbs onto be pressed into wine. Diego made some comment about machismo, trying to explain how women's delicate hands are better fit for the process, and he asked if there was a word for machismo in English. We informed him the closest thing would be 'misogyny.'
We descended into an underground cellar where we tasted our first wine, a rose-like blend called Gris derived from three wines. A table wine not exported, we savored our first glass but it won't be our last - we each bought two bottles. The underground cellar was lined with red candles and ancient moldy bottles - many gone bad. Diego explained that the owners use the old bottles to do 'experiments' and he had tried wine as old as 1927, which was gross. In the cellar, the owners host dinner parties, much like the scary cave feast my Budapest group had, where we thought we'd be locked in and never escape.
When we emerged, Diego brought us our next two tasting glasses on a bunch outside. We enjoyed the fresh air of a perfect Chilean fall day, and watched the leaves fall as we sniffed and swished the white and red. Some tipsy photography ensued around the vines and old machinery, while we waited for a taxi to head home.
When Kate and I are rich and older, we will hire Diego as a private sommelier for our Chilean chateau. Then again, he had a pretty cute cousin - maybe we can marry into the family, and live happily ever after in a vineyard? After such a great morning, it doesn't sound like a bad plan...
Now, the question is, how do you securely bubble-wrap six bottles of wine to get them back to America... And how do you find room in your suitcase? I'm sure we will.
We descended into an underground cellar where we tasted our first wine, a rose-like blend called Gris derived from three wines. A table wine not exported, we savored our first glass but it won't be our last - we each bought two bottles. The underground cellar was lined with red candles and ancient moldy bottles - many gone bad. Diego explained that the owners use the old bottles to do 'experiments' and he had tried wine as old as 1927, which was gross. In the cellar, the owners host dinner parties, much like the scary cave feast my Budapest group had, where we thought we'd be locked in and never escape.
When we emerged, Diego brought us our next two tasting glasses on a bunch outside. We enjoyed the fresh air of a perfect Chilean fall day, and watched the leaves fall as we sniffed and swished the white and red. Some tipsy photography ensued around the vines and old machinery, while we waited for a taxi to head home.
When Kate and I are rich and older, we will hire Diego as a private sommelier for our Chilean chateau. Then again, he had a pretty cute cousin - maybe we can marry into the family, and live happily ever after in a vineyard? After such a great morning, it doesn't sound like a bad plan...
Now, the question is, how do you securely bubble-wrap six bottles of wine to get them back to America... And how do you find room in your suitcase? I'm sure we will.
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