Spanglish Accent: Red, Red Wine...

I never thought these words would come out of my mouth (or my computer keyboard, as the case may be) but I think I have had enough wine to last me awhile. A long while. Don't get me wrong, I still love my wine. But after spending 3 1/2 days touring wineries and having wine with lunch and dinner, I think we need a break from each other. Especially the reds. I am just not as young as I once was and starting to drink at 10 am has lost it's appeal. And I know that tasting is supposed to be just "tasting" and not "drinking", but it just doesn't work that way, at least not for me. I can't see throwing away something that tastes so good. And it did taste good. Oh. so. good.

The Colchagua Valley lived up to it's reputation and then some. If you haven't heard of their reputation I will summarize - the valley's wines were ranked #2 in the world by Wine Spectator Magazine in 2004 and it was Wine Enthusiast's Wine Region of the Year in 2005. Wines from the region have made the list every year since. But that is all lost on me. As much as I love wine, I am no connoisseur. I have drunk enough wine in my time to know what I like, don't like and will never drink again, but I couldn't tell you why. I like to call myself a "wine slut"...I will try anything once. These were not my first tastings, but some of my first tours, since in Southern California, wine tasting rarely consists of anything more than walking in, paying for your glass, and tasting at your discretion. The person behind the counter is knowledgeable, but you aren't really there to learn too much, you are there to get in your drinks and move on. Not in Chile. Here, they take their tasting seriously, and not a single drop is going to pass over your palate, until you have appreciated all the work that went into making the wine. Rightly so. There is a lot of work and time involved...though I am sure I am still underestimating it as all but one of my tours was conducted in Spanish. I learned a lot though, including the fact that I can follow about 90% of a wine tour, given in Spanish, even after the equivalent of about a bottle of red. And all you were getting out of Colchagua was a red. (The whites are made in another location about 1 1/2 hours from Santiago in a Valley called Casablanca).

I love the Reds - all of them. (I even named my cat Shiraz). And I added a new one to the list this week - the Carmenere. It is the signature wine of Chile. The grape was thought to be extinct in the mid-19th century when a nasty bug destroyed it in Europe. It then reappeared about 100 years later in Chile, unknowingly mixed in with a crop of Merlot vines that were brought in to the country. It has thrived ever since because of the perfect combination of climate, soil and long growing season. It is one of the deepest, darkest and purplest (is that a word?) of grapes and the end product can be compared to a Meaty Merlot with a hint of Spicy Cabernet (I told you, I learned something!). If you can get your hands on the Montes' Purple Angel (this means you, Luciana, Nichole and Lisa) please, get a couple of bottles. If you don't care for it, no worries, I will drink them for you when we come back to visit! Because perhaps the saddest part (for me, not for most of you), is that I live in Chile where it is very hard to get your hands on the best of Chilean wines. They export most of it. And with a 35% IVA/Tax rate, it is cheaper to buy the best of Chile in the USA anyway.

But the trip wasn't all about the wine. OK, yes it was, but it was also a family trip so we hit 2 museums, did a couple of carriage rides, a cable car and spent a lot of quality time just playing around as a family. In kid terms, it means that they had no idea that they were on an adult vacation and had a great time. I took a ton of pictures to prove it, but can't possibly post all of them here. Today I am going to post the "winery" pictures...tomorrow, the fun family snaps.

If you find yourself in Chile, I do recommend a trip to Colchagua. Next month, we are off to Mendoza in Argentina. Maybe by then I will be willing to drink wine again...

If you can get a bottle of the Purple Angel, pick one up...you won't be disappointed.

I loved the open barrel design of the winery!

Designed to look like the Guggenheim staircase, but practical too. This is a 6 story, gravity fed winery and this gets you from floor to floor. It is also one of the reasons they don't allow kids (we got lucky and even got a private tour and tasting!)