From Chardonnay to Carménère

‘Lunch is the wedding of food and wine’ our guide Patricia proclaimed as we headed out to the Casablanca Valley, about an hour out of Santiago. We were certainly looking forward to the wedding and the pre-wedding tastings. Patricia and Manuel were our guides on our private tour to some of Chile’s largest wine regions. Our first stop of the day was at the Emiliana Winery, an organic vineyard that proudly practiced the principles of biodynamic viticulture.  Chickens and peacocks roamed between the vines eating away at any fungus that could attack the grapes. Corridors of wildflowers were planted to attract bees who were also very good and repelling pests and making honey as a side product. There were also alpacas – which were I am sure were useful in some way too, but it was unclear how. Anyway, onto the wines. The Sav Blanc and Chardonnay were nice, but the Carménère is Chile’s signature grape and every winery creates a different blend with Cab Sav.  Emiliana had blended 85% Carménère and 15% Cab Sav which enjoyable but our preference was the 60% Cab Sab, 40% Carménère that we tried at our next stop. Indomita was an imposing castle like winery that sat on top of the hill and looked out across the valley. We were guided through their cellars which had lost many barrels due to the devastating Earthquake in 2010. By the time we made it to lunch, a delightful 4 course tasting menu with matched wines we had started to feel the effects of the morning’s work. A strong Pisco Sour, (Chile’s national drink) over lunch certainly didn’t help. From lunch we head to the San Antonio Valley and our last winery of the day where after a beautiful Pinot we were ready for a nap on the way home. We just had time for one last stop, to try a dulce de leche, meringue and cake filled with a caramelised centre – definitely something for the sweet tooth that revived us somewhat for the journey home!