Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas!  In keeping with the norm so far, I've taken longer between post creations than I intended.  Oooops :-)  Well here goes:  The Wine Tour! Kylie at Chile Wine Trails is awesome and the day was great.  I definitely recommend doing a tour organized by her if you are ever in the area!


We left Santiago around 10 am and headed to Casablanca Valley.  The plan for the day was to visit Emiliana Organic Vineyards, Casa Botha Restaurant and Wine Shop, and then end the day at Bodegas RE Winery and Vineyard.  I did not add info on specific wines we tried, buuuut you can see which wines I have tried in Chile so far through my vivino profile.  Vivino is a neat app which can be used to track wines tried!  I'm by no means a wine connoisseur, so you may want to completely disregard my ratings, but I would definitely recommend the app!

So first stop was Emiliana!

Emiliana!  Very enjoyable tour!

Emiliana is an organic and biodynamic vineyard.  The tour we went on there was absolutely fascinating.  The idea is that the vineyard should basically be a closed environment, so they do not have to bring in any outside resources for wine production and they do not use any synthetic chemicals.  They use the animals and plants on site, and even the moon cycle, to give the grapes the nutrients needed.  Interestingly, they have found that this also creates a much heartier crop.  A few years ago there was a very bad frost, and it cost them either 40% or 60% (I can't quite remember) of their crop, but other vineyards in the region lost everything, including the vineyard that was just across the road.  

Chickens help minimize pest damage to the grape vines.

Alpacas! Their manure is used in the compost for the grapes.  They keep alpacas instead of llamas because they are less cantankerous.

Rows of vines are alternated with compost rows and rows of flowers.  The flowers provide extra nitrogen to the soil.

The buildings on the site.  It would be a beautiful place for a fancy function!

Certain herbs are also used to supplement the compost and animal diets.

Finally!  The wine and cheese!

Now for the wine story.  So, I'm not exactly graceful, but this was particularly terrible. The chairs at the table were very close together, and there was a step down behind them, so just getting front of the seat was awkward.  While worrying about not tripping, I managed to forget that my camera was hanging around my neck.  So when I finally got in front of the seat, I bent to sit down, and my camera swung forward knocking down not one, not two, not even three, but all four of the wine glasses in front of me, as well as the glass of water (you know, for good measure). Miraculously no glass was broken, and only my place setting and the one across from me was affected, but it was super embarrassing.  I managed to set a record for most glasses knocked over and without a drop of wine in my system.  Everyone was very nice about it, but I will not be living it down any time soon (ever).  Hopefully that was my clumsy moment for the entire stay in Chile... but then again, I am related to Jimmy :-)

Moving on. My favorite part of the day was the visit to Casa Botha!  I loved pretty much everything about it.  The food was awesome, the wine was my favorite of the day, and we even got to see the kitchen!  The owner David is an expat from South Africa.  He retired to Chile, built his workshop and house, and then decided to build the restaurant.  He used all reclaimed materials (everything had a previous life), and it was easy to see how passionate he is about the restaurant.  The restaurant doesn't have a specific menu; the menu is set each day based on what is in season and good.  So the "menu" just basically says "meat", "fish", etc.  His relationship with the local vineyards and wineries ensures that he gets the good stuff on the wine front too!  Missy, I am going to do my best to make sure we go here when you visit!  

Lovely building!

David, the owner, actually built the restaurant himself using all reclaimed materials!

Meet Jude... super cute!  Very interested in food also...

Four cheese gnocchi! Super tasty!  This was part of the main course... I failed to take a picture of the appetizer course, but it was great!

I was too excited to take a before picture... There was a fish that is only found in the southern hemisphere (yes I should have remembered the name), gnocchi, a super tasty lasagne, and some delightful sirloin steak served with mushrooms and potatoes.

Cheesecake, passion fruit-lime mousse, ice cream

Apple tart/pie, panna cotta, and more ice cream

Finally, we ended the day at Bodgas RE.  They produce wine, liqueurs, and balsamic vinegar.  It was raining just a bit by the time we arrived, so we did not get to see the fields, but the tour guide assured us that the storage and fermentation processes are the interesting parts of what they do anyhow!  The wine production was in the cellar of the building, which was also where the tasting was.  It was nice and cool, and also super neat!

The RE is for Revelation, Recreation, and Revolution.

They make fruit liqueurs:  Strawberry, Blueberry, Peach, Grape and others.  Very strong and meant as a digestive. Aged for 4 months (I believe).

Strawberry!

They make balsamic vinegar.. We were able to smell these... very vinegary (shocking!).  Each barrel is a different type of wood, which imparts its flavor.  Aged for about 4 years (I think..).

A unique aspect of this winery is the way that they create their wine... the wine is first allowed to ferment in the large clay containers on the right, and then further aged in the barrels on the left. Super neat.

mmmmm cheese and olives!

This was part of my treat from Bodegas RE.  Olive oil and balsamic vinegar!  Aren't these bottles beautiful?  We also purchased a bottle of the 2013 Syragnan, which we enjoyed on Christmas eve!

Since the wine tour on Saturday, we haven't done very much.  It was overcast here on Saturday and Sunday, but when it cleared on Monday we were treated to some extra snow in the mountains!  The cooler weather on Monday was awesome for running!  It warmed up the rest of the week, but it has still been cool in the mornings.  I finished up Christmas shopping on Monday and Tuesday and yesterday George and I had a lazy TV day and I baked some cookies. Below are a few more pictures! 

Not a great shot, but this is as white of a Christmas as we will see!

Lentil and black bean tacos with veggies! Also some Chilean beer!

Adult playgrounds:  They have these "playgrounds" of exercise equipment throughout the park that I run in!  Very cool!