Wine, Dancing and Legends - All In One Day!

The day began bright and early as we met Eugene at nine in the morning, to drive us out of the city for a wine tour at Concha Y Torro (which means – shell and bull). Maria, our guide at the vineyard, told us everything we needed to know (and more!) about how they make their wines, and even hinted at a private underground cellar containing the rarest wines which we couldn’t see due to earthquake damage. We decided it might have been a good thing because legend has it that a devil lives in the cellar – a story known as the “Casillero del Diable Legend”. It seems the original owner of the vineyard made up the tale to keep people away from his precious and rarest wines. Regardless, we didn’t want to take the risk! After the tour and a variety of unbelievable wines, we headed off to lunch at a classic roadside Chilean restaurant. Lunch was simple but one of the best we have ever tasted - two steaks grilled on an open flame by an asador, two beers and a traditional gaucho dance called the chicken and the hen. And to think this was something the locals got to experience every day. Perfection! Perez Cruz vineyard was next, a very rustic and charming, off the beaten path vineyard with incredible modern architecture. Out of all of the vineyards we visited, this was the youngest. We got a kick out of the modern “wine lab”, where “wine scientists” were busy creating the latest, most innovative Perez Cruz blends. We decided that must be a pretty nice job to have! One of the most surprising things from our trip was that every wine we tasted had such a full-bodied flavor – surprising to us given the arid soil and climate. After more amazing wines and a few more tall tales and legends, we headed back to the hotel after another long but incredible day and (unbeknownst to me!) a postcard was dropped in the mail by my then-boyfriend (now fiancé!) written to his future wife! We headed off to late dinner at Del Cocinero in Providencia and although I’m still stuffed from dinner the evening before, I have to order a full plate!