A top reason I’m going to hate leaving Chile someday: Amazing wine. Cheap, amazing wine.

You can get a delicious bottle of Chile’s rich specialty Carmeneré for US$6 to$8, but even $4 will get you something decent. At those prices it’s hard not to become a wine connoisseur in this country,  not to mention Chile is home to some of the best wines in the world.

Concha y Toro is the largest wine producer in Latin America, and is headquartered in none other than Santiago. Vineyards are also scattered throughout six other wine regions in Chile in addition to locations in Argentina and California.

I’d been meaning to make a trip to the outskirts of the city for a visit for months, but it kept getting put off. I’d been feeling guilty about never taking the time to go … until one of my Santiago-born roommates, Sergio, said he’d also never been. Whoah! We decided to make a day of it.

Vineyard in Winter

Concha y Toro

Me and Sergio

Since Sergio doesn’t speak much English, we decided to do the tour in Spanish. When I went on Spanish tours in the past, I’d always had Nora (who majored in Spanish) by my side to answer any doubts I had, so I was unsure how I’d manage with no one to help me translate.

However, after living in Chile for a year and a half and recently moving into an apartment with Spanish speakers, my language skills have really improved. I’m convinced I have THE best roommates (Sergio and Hugo of Chile and Claudia of Mexico) who patiently help me stumble through their language. After night after night of long talks, I’m finally feeling more confident in the language and as an added bonus, I consider them great friends.

 After a delicious lunch, we took the tour which started at the original house the owners and their families built in 1875. The French-inspired 22-room mansion overlooks a beautiful lagoon next to the vineyard which produces grapes of several varieties.

Lunch. Chicken in wine sauce and fancy potato thing.

The 22-room estate where the original families who owned the vineyard lived.

Vines.

Sergio and Me.

Roomies!

The tour guide then showed off the famous “Casillero del Diablo,” or Cellar of the Devil, complete with a spooky show that tells the wine legend. Legend has it that although the winery’s founder Don Melchor put aside the best bottles under lock and key, they consistently went missing. So, a rumor started that the devil resided in the cellar to protect his premium product. Today, “Casillero del Diablo” is the company’s brand for its premium line and it has won several international awards.

The wine cellar.

In the Casillero del Diablo.

Salud!

It was a fun day, seeing and learning where the wine I love so much comes from — and all in Spanish!

—JDF