Portillo is a state of mind. Over 12,000 feet up in the Andes Mountains it’s about as close to heaven as you can get without oxygen.Well above the tree line so the mountains you traverse are naked and rocky, the trip leads you to wonder if the promise of Portillo can possibly be all it is thought to be. The twenty-nine switchback turns without guard rails, permit you to look down into…
Our guide in Chile, Mauricio Masserano of Chilean Wine Lovers Tours (Hernando de Aguirre No 128, Providencia – Santiago – Chile – +1714-845-7150 maurice@cwl.cl– www.chileanwinelovers.com), suggested we stay in a boutique hotel just off Providencia Avenue, the main street in Santiago. This hotel, Le Reve is located at Orrego Luco, 023. It is a half block off the main street, and yet far enough to lose the street noises. (www.lereve.cl and tel: …
Matuana Winery has a slight edge on Alchemy in my mind, only because the winemaker has more depth of experience to call on in his formulation for success. Both of these wineries are making world class wines. While Matuana may have more finesse and a more complex formula for success, both are changing perceptions of what a fine Chilean wine can and should be. Let’s start with Matuana. The icon wine is…
Friends visited Chile on a wine tour. They told us about the great time they had and the guide who made the trip special for them. We nodded and took the card of the guide, but gave it no more thought. We were thinking of a return to Italy, our favorite place to visit when my spouse ‘discovered’ inexpensive flights to Santiago, Chile, direct from DFW where we live. We took a…
On our second trip three years after our first we had a better idea what we wanted to do. We wanted to do more than walk vineyards, learn the process and taste some wines. We wanted to visit boutique wineries, spend some time on the ground, like overnight, and actually talk with one or more winemakers about what they were doing and learning about wine making. We intended to buy some of…