We decided to visit our good friend and wine guide, Mauricio Rodrigues Masserano of Chilean Wine Lovers and the Colchagua Vista Wine Lodge in Chile. We always have a great time with Mauricio and this trip was no exception. We visited a few of our favorite places such as Casa Silva (to feed sugar to the Polo ponies) and Montes, but this time Mauricio said he had discovered the Santa Ana sub-region,…
We recently visited Rio on a cruise. Arriving in March, we missed Carnaval, the massive street parade that puts Mardi Gras to shame. We visited Samba City, a collection of warehouses near the cruise ship port. It is where the floats and costumes are made, and the dancers practice their routines, for a year in advance. Our guide, Lia, was one of the dancers, but not Brazilian. She moved to Rio from…
Growing up near Niagara Falls, New York, I have always taken for granted that water sometimes creates a waterfall. It might even be massive, as the one on the Niagara river. But Karen and I heard tales of a waterfall that is over a mile across and higher than the one I know so well. It just happens to be near the confluence of the Iguazu and Parana rivers, where Brazil, Argentina…
House is a restaurant in the Casablanca Valley of Chile. It is owned by the Morande winery, a pioneer who discovered a method of growing grapes in a region viewed as just too cold to produce world class wines. Thirty years later Casablanca is noted as a significant producer of world class whites, Pinots and Syrahs. The restaurant serves gourmet meals with wine pairings that challenge the expected norms of food and…
I am writing this from the Vik Hotel in Millahue, Chile. Three years ago I visited this hotel, but just on a winery tour and lunch. I looked at the price to stay here and was persuaded then that it was like Unobtainium, a rare earth element that neither exists nor could it ever for someone without a stratospheric income. However, that visit changed my mind about the experience one would have…