This is a DO (Denomination Origin) wine region so we are off to find out about the wines here. We have a scary start when a truck tries to take us out on the highway because we seemingly entered too slow!! He banged on his horn then overtaking, veered right into ur side of the road. Fortunately Ted’s reactions were good and he avoided contact. But it’s stressful on that highway with all the big trucks.
First into fog, we then get into some clearer air. Later we hear of a big accident on the Panamerican highway in the fog involving 25 vehicles, one person killed. But we take off on the country roads through rich agricultural land. This is where Santiagoans retreat to in the heat of summer.
We stop in at Gillmore Vineyards, the oldest vineyard in Chile, which has a ritzy hotel for about US$300 a night but it is virtually closed and we just try the two nice wines available for tasting.
We continue to the large Balduzzi operation but find we can’t have a tour in English til 4:30. So we walk a few blocks into town and have lunch with the locals, soup and salad is enough. Arriving back early, we are served a glass of wine to sit in the lovely gardens and end up being the only ones on the tour after all.
A knowledgeable young lady Lorena shows us around the winery, which is pressing white/red grapes together for a cheaper wine, then a nice tasting of 4 wines. Ted buys a Sauvignon Blanc and the $40 2013 gold winning Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere (85/15%) to take home with us.
Back into seedy Talca, Ted wanders off and comes back with new socks, I guess the trip is taking its toll on his whites!
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