Feb 14: Velantine’s Day and Wineries

Valentine’s Day is a big deal here. All the guys are running around clutching their little bags and bunches of flowers. Sweet.

  But the big day is a lovely outing for us, a day trip to the wineries south of the city. We hire Eduardo through our hotel to drive us, and my Spanish improves no end as he speaks no English. But he is a patient and careful driver and tells us lots about the city and life here all the same

  Victoria (our hotel hostess) has booked us into two wineries and the first is outstanding. We drive through coastal fog and cool eagerly Day temps and are glad we have long-sleeved shirts, later ditched for the usual 30+ afternoon temps. 

  First we visit Viña Undurraga, where we are the only English speaking people on Marion’s tour. Through the family’s beautiful gardens, vineyards, terroir cave, historic underground caves and finally into a gorgeous dining room, surrounded by family portraits and antique furnishings and carved ceilings. We try 4 nice wines and Ted asks for a taste of the premium SB, a cut above the others. We buy two and a dessert wine, one to drink some evening and one for Victoria, for her efforts. Goodness knows what we will do with the free glasses from both wineries...

  Between tastings, we drive around lovely agricultural fruit and vine-producing farms amid busy commercial towns. Too late for lunch in the main dining room at Santa Rita, we order lunch on the patio overlooking the gorgeous garden and are not disappointed with the beautiful preparation of the cold seafood and mixed salad plates.

  Santa Rita’s tour is much more pedestrian, a huge place producing 80 million bottles a year, versus Undurraga’s mere 20 million!

  We are amazed at the huge bunches of grapes and the sheer volume of those left on the ground after thinning.

  We return to the hotel in 30+ temps in time to shower, rest and wait for it to cool down enough to go out again.

  Later we walk up to the tapas resto, wait a while for a table and enjoy the (smoky!!) ambience of the place. It seems everyone here smokes and they eat a huge amount of corn, so I wonder how high the incidence is of lung cancer and diabetes??