Over the Andes
Chile holds a particular draw for me as my dear Aunt Harriet has lived there for many years - along with my cousin Dorian and a host of second cousins and extended family. They live in the far south - at the northern tip of the stunningly beautiful lake district - their home over-looking Lake Osorno and its accompanying volcano. The last time I visited no one was making wine that far south, although since then, Aurelio Montes (one of my Uncle Sergio’s absolute favourite’s) has planted vines on Chiloé - an island south of Puerto Mont.
After a visit to the family in beautiful Frutillar, I travelled north to meet the group from Liberty Wines in Concepcion - near to the Itata region. We spent a day with the eccentric and talented Pedro Parra - visiting the bush vines where his ‘Clos de Fous’ wines were grown - from both ‘international’ grapes like Riesling, and the local Pais.
Riesling from Itata, poured and drunk in the vineyard where it was grown.
From there we travelled north - up to the spectacular Colchagua region and home of Uncle Sergio’s favourite - Vina Montes. Aurelio Montes was one of the Chilean wine pioneers. He championed premium Cabernet Sauvignon in an era when the surrounding regions were churning our cheap reds (grape irrelevant), along with championing Carmenère - Chile’s secret grape - thought to be Merlot for many years before a DNA test proved otherwise. This stop was to be the first of many where we were treated to a HUGE array of meats cooked over an open fire, cooked under the spectacular Chilean skies.
We hopped over the Andes (after a minor earthquake in the only high rise hotel we stayed in the entire trip - nothing to the locals, we all got very excited when the building swayed), and headed straight to the Montes sister winery in Mendoza - Kaiken - now in big time Malbec country. Again at Kaiken we were spoilt with empenadas and fire cooked meats - and gifted our own steak knives, which I still have and use whenever the occasion arises.
Malbec in action.
We visited several wineries in Mendoza, but if I’m honest, the standout moment of the trip was further north - having flown to Salta, we were driven out to Bodega Colome. Salta is incredibly high - and Bodega Colome sits at 3111m above sea level, making it one of the highest winemaking regions in the world. The purity of light was one of the things which was most noticeable. The resulting wines were my favourites in Argentina - this is not a wine tasting blog, but they were the most elegant and moreish Malbecs I have ever tasted.