Vineyards

I am not sure what people think about when they think about Chile. I can honestly say I was thinking about good food and working on my Spanish. I knew of Patagonia, skiing, fishing, and the beach, but I really didn´t know too much. Well, I knew of Pinochet too because my friend Karin, in college, was writing her senior paper on Pinochet, so during our study breaks we would recap everything about our papers. It seemed to us if we could just talk about our papers it would be better. BUT, I really didn´t know a whole lot about Chile except that it was one of the more developed countries in South America an it was relatively safe.

Since I have been here, I have learned alot...including the distance one needs to travel to head north or south. Chile is as long as the US is wide. Traveling to the north or south from where I am is at least a day bus ride if not more, or a $200 (or more) plane ticket. On a volunteers wage, it gets spendy. I was starting to get frustrated with this. How was I going to see all of Chile? Then, I realized, I really don´t need to see all of Chile, because there is so much to learn right here. Maybe this time around I am not supposed to indulge myself in outdoor activities as much as getting to know something I have never known before....like the Vineyards. :)I have been to several Vineyards now. First was the Santa Cruz Vineyard. Last weekend was the Montgras Vineyard. Yesterday the Apaltagua Vineyard. I never thought the day would come that I would prefer wine over beer, nor take the time to learn about it....

Santa Cruz is in the Colchagua Valley, a valley known for fruit and wine. It is located on the Ruta de Vino. There is a little train you can take through the valley to see the vineyards and taste some wine. I still have yet to take the train, since it runs during tourist season, which is only starting.

The grapes here are, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet, and Carmenere. Carmenere is a grape that was mistaken for Merlot for many years here in Chile. They couldn´t figure out why their MErlot has a different flavor than other Merlots until they realized they were picking the Carmenere grape before it was even ready to be picked. Typically, the wines in this valley are red. It is possible to make a white wine with red grapes, however it is labor intensive.

There are three levels of wine in Chile. Varedades (I think is what he was saying...I have to double check), Reserva, and Premium. The Premium wines, as I learned at the Montgras vineyard, is made from the grapes growing in the most difficult terrain because they need to work harder to obtain the nutrients from the ground. I just thought this was a neat analogy for life. This particular vineyard makes a premium wine called Neyguen (I might have it spelled wrong, I wrote it down, but my notes are at home and I am not). But, this wine, they hand pick -select all the grapes for the wine. The mountain, or hillside, these grapes grow on is called Neyguen and is the terrain of the poorer quality, but best grapes.

Only 15% of the wine from this vineyard go to US and Canada. 40 % of the wine exported from this vineyard goes to Denmark. It seems to me that alot of the wine from Chile goes to Denmark. Lushes! ;)

The vineyard I visited yesterday, Apaltaqua, is owned by a man, or family, who owns taxicabs in NY and some other big city. They have a huge operation as it seemed. I got to watch the bottles go through the bottling machine! whoa! So cool! The engineer at the plant spoke english and told me about the operation. He started out his engineering career as a GE employee in the states, making lights, then was moved to Seattle to make GE motors (or motor parts) for Boeing, and now he is making wine. Interesting route to becoming a winemaker. He stressed to the students the need to learn English, which was good...makes my job easier. Then, he made a big deal about presenting me with a bottle of wine, which was a bit uncomfortable, but appreciated. I really don´t like being in the spotlight. PLUS, I was there with other teachers who deserved just as much attention as me....thankfully, they all got bottles of wine too.

Alright, that might have to be it for the today, as I need to walk home. I am going to a colleague's house with my host mom for a pizza and beer night. Yep, beer. It is odd fo me now. :) I told my host mom...damnit, you are turning me into a wine drinker! :)

Cheers! hope you are all well!!