Santiago y Vino!

This past Thursday evening after very little planning, a couple friends and I decided to go to Santiago for the weekend. None of us have class on Fridays (brilliant!), so this was hopefully the first of many impromptu getaways of the semester!! We chatted about the trip a little in class and about 10 minutes before we left Vina I made a hostel reservation...and off we went! The trip to Santiago is simple from Vina...a 90 minute bus ride drops you at a metro station and soon the entire city is within your reach. We arrived way after dark and had to wander a bit to find the hostel, but we arrived eventually unharmed... The hostel appeared a bit sketchy at night but by the time we woke up the next morning I felt pretty satisfied with our $14 a night per person accommodations. We started out Friday morning with a self-guided walking tour of the center of Santiago. I loved the feeling of being back in a big, modern city with a bustling metro and countless restaurants.

Church facing the Plaza de Armas in el Centro, Santiago

La Moneda, seat of the Chilean president

Honestly, the pictures I have seen of this were more spectacular than the actual experience of seeing the Palace in person, which is strange, but I think the aerial view is much more striking.

Palacio de Bellas Artes

This was one of many buildings in Santiago that was roped off with "PELIGROSO" = danger tape. You can see the rubble easily in the picture-also note the damage towards the upper part of the entrance of the building. It was sad to see so many beautiful buildings damaged by the quake, and there is much restoration work to be done.

Section of Pablo Neruda's former Santiago home, La Chascona

One of my favorite thingsthat I did this weekend was visiting the home of famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. His Santiago home has 3 main sections and was built to look like a boat, due to his love of the sea. He also has houses in Valparaiso and Isla Negra, and I'm planning to visit both soon. We couldn't take any pics inside, but the home was full of art and photographs and poetry and books-very interesting and inspirational.

Mural in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santiago, en route towards Pablo Neruda's house

And the other highlight of my weekend....?!? My first vineyard tour!!!

My friend Sarah and I chose to visit Concha y Toro Vineyards in the Maipo Valley (reds!), mostly because it was easy to get to via public transportation from Santiago and the price was right (a little under $14 USD for a tour with two tastings!). Concha y Toro is one of the largest winemakers in the world-and today the company even sells its shares in the NYSE. They own about 8,000 acres in Chile, from the South to the North of the country.

Former summer home of the founder, Don Melchor Concha y Toro, c. 1880's

Vineyard! with the Andes in the background

We learned all about wine aging in oak barrels...

The wine ages for 6-20 or 30 months in oak barrels, depending on the type of barrel (American or French oak). They can use a barrel for about 6 years with various wines and after they finish with the barrels, they sell them to makers of whiskey, etc.

My favorite part of the tour-drinking the wine of course! We tried one white- a 2008 Chardonnay, and one red-a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, both their Marque de Casa Concha label. I really enjoyed the process of looking and swirling and smelling and tasting, really appreciating the wine for its complexity. After the tour we were chatting with others in our tour group and ended up meeting a professor of Public Health at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Their PH program is top notch, and I've considered applying there, so it ended up being a surprising but excellent chance meeting. He gave us his email and some helpful advice-its especially easy to be chatty when everyone is under the influence of a nice combination of wine and sun :) With lunch I tried a different type of wine-one of their signature mixtures of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere. Carmenere is Chile's signature variety that was killed off in the Bordeaux region of France but survived, unknown to many, in Chile. It was mistaken as Merlot for years but eventually recognized as a unique variety. After a few glasses, I think it's my favorite I've tried thus far! On the bus ride back Vina from Santiago, I couldn't believe how many vineyards we passed as we drove through the Casablanca Valley. I'm happy to say that there shall be many more vineyard tours in my near future.