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, which the locals pronounce as Santana, like the musical group. What makes this area different is the proximity to the coast winds and moisture (about 40 km) but close to the dryness and heat of Colchagua. The main wineries are in or about Peralillo. Mauricio arranged tours of half of the six major boutiques with lunch at Vina Los Chanchitos.
The first winery was La Sirca, a small winery at the end of a short road with a fancy gate and friendly dogs. The owner, who is Bolivian and in the hardwoods business there, bought this estate in 2008 and introduced his first wines in 2014. While his top wine is a red blend, he also had a very nice KOKON Chardonnay, and Ojo en Tinto Carmenere. Since the latter name means a punch in the eye, he explained he started making his own wine when a major winery contracted for his entire harvest of grapes and then refused to take them. It took that punch in the eye for him to become a wine maker himself.
Next, we met with Eduardo, the majority owner of Alchemy wines, which shares an estate with Vina Los Chanchitos. Arriving at the estate, there is a mural painting on the winery showing street scenes from New Orleans. We discovered the owner of Vina Los Chanchitos lives in the Big Easy. The name comes from two pigs that were gifted to the owner when he bought the estate. He went back to New Orleans for a year and when he returned there were a lot more than two pigs. It became synonymous with the estate and thus the name.
Alchemy is one of our favorite wineries because the value of his extensive range of varietals is one of the best in Chile. He also is experimenting with partners in aging a red wine at a depth of about 100 feet in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast. His partner at DeRose wines in Hollister, California, imports all his wines including the water aged wine, although it is not listed yet. Look under ‘Shop’. www.derosewine.com.
Lunch was prepared by a chef from nearby Santa Cruz. Everything was as of a top-quality restaurant. The Chef shared a couple recipes with Karen and we have begun making them at home. The estate manager is a Marine Biologist by training and still does analytical work for colleagues on the side. The first wine he served was a crisp white Roussanne varietal we enjoyed very much with his appetizers. With the main course he served a GSMC, which is Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. This is an usual blend, but refreshing as most of the wines from this region are lighter than found in Colchagua. Just for fun, they produce a Tiny Bikini Rose. All of their wines are available through www.cravewineco.com or www.cubanliquor.com
