Winecation

Mark said yesterday that we're on a winecation and he's right. We've soaked up a lot of great vino. And we had more on the schedule for today. Christian The Van Man picked us up at 9:00 this morning for a trip to the Casablanca Valley, just 45 minutes out of Santiago.

Our first stop was Emiliana, a certified organic and biodynamic vineyard. We took a tour with a couple from Columbia, their parents and four year old son, Edwin. Edwin was adorable-he had his mother's camera and ran around taking photos of the chickens used to keep worms off the wines, the alpacas that eat the grass without damaging the turf, and the peacocks that just hang around looking cool.  Chickens run under the grapevines taking care of their extermination duties. Alpacas are kept for their wool and employees can work with the fabric to support their families in the off season. Bees produce honey that employees can sell. There's a lush garden with plots for employees to do with as they wish-they can sell the produce, eat it or give it away.

Javiera was our guide. Every winery has lovely, well-educated women who speak wonderful English and seem so glad to be with us. It makes touring so much fun.

Next up was Casas del Bosque, a winery Judy visited with her family last year. . Vanessa, our guide grew up in New Jersey and moved here with her mother ten years ago. Following  the tour, she led us through a tasting of five premium wines-Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Syrah, a blend of their best reds and the family reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. After all that wine we needed lunch and were well satisfied with the service and food at the winery. Everywhere we've been the restaurants have had empanadas on their menus, but none have had them available so we had to try them. The empanadas were wonderful as were the salads, Wagu beef and quail.

From the Casablanca Valley to Valpraiso is a 45 minute drive due west. We visited La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda's three houses. Chile's Nobel laureate and probably best-known poet built the top three floors of the five story house. Neruda selected the art, from ships at sea to Walt Whitman to a stuffed bird hanging from the ceiling in a glass case. The true beauty of the house is its views-from his hilltop home Neruda could see most of the town and harbor. We  drove around to see the colorful houses and fabulous mural art on buildings throughout the city.  We made a quick stop the Naval Observatory for harbor views and people watching.

Just up the road, the town of Vina del Mar is known for its lovely beaches, nice hotels and upscale residents. We asked Christian where the best gelato can be found and it's in Vina del Mar too. We stopped for scoops at Timbao before heading back to Santiago.

Christian took us through several neighborhoods in Santiago to show us where the 'rich and famous' live. There are some fancy houses up in the hills. Because it had been a long day and we didn't want to bother with dinner he took us to a giant grocery store to pick up goodies for dinner. Three bottles of wonderful wine washed down cheese, parma ham, salami, and chocolate. It was a wonderful day with a very pleasant ending.