• Wine Regions
    • Napa Valley Wine Country Guide
    • Healdsburg – Russian River Wine Country
    • Sonoma Valley Wine Country Planning Guide
    • Mendocino Wine Country
    • Carneros
    • Paso Robles Wine Country
    • Santa Barbara Wine Country
    • Livermore Valley wineries
    • Lodi Wineries
    • Sierra Foothills Wineries
    • Monterey Wineries
    • Santa Cruz Wineries
    • Lake County Wine Country
    • Yolo County Wine Country
  • Tasting Room Guide
    • Tasting Room Etiquette
    • Napa Valley on a Budget 2022
    • How to Taste Wine
    • Bocce Wineries
    • Organic Wineries
    • The Wine Country Picnic
    • Vineyard Year
    • Best wine country backroads
    • Winery Wine Clubs
    • Buying Wine at a Winery
    • Wine Varietals
    • Wine Appellations
    • Solar Wineries in California
    • How many bottles of wine in a barrel?
    • Hiking in Wine Country
  • Wine Guide
    • Pairing Food & Wine
      • Which wines for dinner?
    • Which Wine Glass
    • Decanting wine
    • Which Corkscrew works best
    • Corkage Fees
    • Corked Wine
      • Preserving Wine – what to do with the unfinished bottle of wine
    • Hosting a Wine Tasting Party – How to pull it off
      • Hosting a Serious Wine Tasting Party
      • How to Host a Fun and Casual Wine Tasting Party
      • Wine Scoring Sheets | Wine Tasting Forms | Wine Scorecards
      • Checklist for Successful Wine Tasting
    • Wine Gifts for Wine Geeks
      • Best Wine Books
      • Top Ten Wine Cookbooks
      • Best wine fiction books
    • Best Wine Bargains
    • Wine Collection Tips
  • Wine Country Insider
    • Wine Trails off the Beaten Path
    • Quick Getaways
    • Hiking in Wine Country
    • When to Visit Wine Country
    • Which wine region to visit and why
    • Redwoods and Vineyards
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
You are here: Home / Archives for Chile

Big Surprises at the Chilean Wine Tour

October 13, 2012 by Joe Becerra

With stops in Chicago and San Francisco to promote the wines of Chile, the Chilean Pro Wine Tour made a surprise announcement to those attending a seminar for the wine media. We attended this event in San Francisco on Tuesday, October 9, and learned that there is a new appellation law in Chile that divides the country’s wine regions vertically into three distinct viticultural areas. The law is so new that moderator Joshua Green, Editor of Wines & Spirits, stated, “Many in the wine community of Chile do not know about the new appellation law as yet.”

Costa, Entre Cordilleras, and Andes Appellations

The reason for the new appellations is that the old ones were too broad and did not benefit the consumer. The old wine appellations amounted to political areas, with little to do with the regions’ soil and climate conditions. As you can see on the Chilean wine map, the new appellations are divided from West to East. The Costa Appellation is influenced more by its marine climate of the Pacific Ocean and, in many areas of the coast, its limestone soils. The Entre Cordilleras zone is made up of the center valleys of Chile, where there are many microclimates and soil types. In general, the temperature range in this zone will be the highest of the three appellations. On the eastern edge of Chile, the Andes Appellation includes the vineyards that are on the slopes of the great Andes Mountain Range. In order for any bottle of wine to be labeled with one of these three appellations, 85% of the wine must be made from grapes from the new zones.

Chilean wine appellations, Costa, Entre Cordilleras, Andes Zone

The new wine map of Chile

Read More »

Filed Under: Chile, Wine Bargains, Wine Information, Wine Tasting Events Tagged With: Andes Zone, Carmenere wine, Chilean wine tour, Chilean wines, Costa, Entre Cordilleras, New appellation law of Chile, wines of Chile

More Argentine and Chilean Wine Recommendations

April 15, 2009 by Joe Becerra

We have been back from our wine trip to Argentina and Chile two weeks but it seems that our wine palates are still in the mode for Argentine and Chilean wines. We tried a couple of Sonoma Zinfandels and a Sonoma Syrah and it was remarkable how spicy and peppery these wines tasted compared to the Argentine and Chilean wines we had been tasting on the tour.

Last week we shopped at Trader Joe’s, Costco, BevMo and Weimax in Burlingame in search of more Argentine and Chilean wines. We purchase several different labels and had to opportunity to try some with guests over the weekend. All of the wines we purchased were under $16. The big winners were the 2005 Montes Syrah at Costco for $15.99 and the 2007 Doña Paula Malbec for $9.99, also at Costco. These are both terrific wines and we are not the only ones to think so. The Wine Spectator gives the Montes Syrah 91 points and Parker gives the Doña Paula a 90-point rating. We also like the clean and fresh taste of the Tapiz Chardonnay that we picked up at the BevMo 5-cent sale for less than nine bucks. I see the price is now $11.99 now that the sale is over.

Read More »

Filed Under: Argentina, Chile, Wine Information

Our Argentine and Chilean Wine Recommendations

April 6, 2009 by Joe Becerra

These are the favorite wines of our trip and ones that you can purchase in many stores and online. All of these wines have character and structure and will give you much enjoyment when served with food.

Bodega Salentein (Argentina)

Bodega Salentein is a new and exciting winery. They are growing grapes at 5000 feet in the Valle de Uco at the base of the Andes Mountains. These wines are excellent and can be found online and in the San Francisco Bay Area for around $15 to $17.

Reserve Chardonnay
Sauvignon Blanc
Reserve Malbec
Pinot Noir

Catena Zapata (Argentina)

The top of the line Catena wines are very expensive but their lower line of wines are very good wine values.

Alamos Malbec – $9
Alamos Chardonnay – $9
Catena Malbec — $15 to $18
Catena Cabernet – $15 to $18

Read More »

Filed Under: Argentina, Chile, Wine Information

Colchagua Valley Wine Country

March 21, 2009 by Joe Becerra

This is an exciting time to be in Chile’s most known wine region, the Colchagua Valley. Harvest began in February with Sauvignon Blanc and will continue well into the month of April. The town of Santa Cruz is considered to be the wine town of the Colchagua Valley, and the only place for wine enthusiasts to stay is the Hotel Santa Cruz. The hotel has a conference center and restaurant that caters to the wine crowd. Across the street is the town plaza where on Sundays during harvest the wineries come and have a harvest fair. We are enjoying our stay at the Hotel Santa Cruz, taking advantage of the pool, massage spa, and restaurants. There are several wineries nearby and Mike Beltran has arranged for VIP visits to two wineries, Montes and Montegras.

Montes Winery in Chile

Montes is one of the most recognized Chilean wineries. They produce a huge amount of wine and our Costco stores carries a very nice selection of the Montes Alpha label. The winery is set against Montes Hill that looks more like a small mountain, but they insist on calling it a hill here in Chile. The highlight of our tour is a ride up part of this mountain to the outer limits of their vineyards. The view from this area is just spectacular. Back at the winery we taste five of their wines including the top of the line Alpha M label.

Montes Winery chile

The “Montes Hill” and vineyards behind the winery

Montgras Winery in Chile

The next morning we tour MontGras Winery. The visit begins with an auspicious start, somehow we are not on their schedule. But with a few phone calls the winery throws out the red carpet for us. We get a first-class tour, an exquisite lunch paired with wine, and the most fun is making our own blend of wine. We each taste samples of Merlot, Carmenere, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Then we blend various options and taste our blends. When we are happy with the blend, we make one bottle and label it. It is ours to take home.

Montgras winery

Montgras Winery – harvesting Chardonnay

On our third night in Santa Cruz we decided to venture out into the sides streets of the town and have dinner at a small local restaurant that we were told by our host at Montgras winery is the best restaurant in town. The name of the restaurant is Veta Bistro. The restaurant has only been open 5 months but it has become a local favorite and now word is spreading about the fine cuisine served by young chef Roberto Neiras. Roberto was born in Sacramento, CA, when his father was a professor at U.C. Davis. Roberto did a stint at two of Thomas Keller’s restaurants, the French Laundry in the Napa Valley and Per Se restaurant in New York. Our dinners were all fabulous and exceptional. Janelle and I had the special of the night, a risotto with mushrooms and Osso Buco. Delicious! Mike had a wonderful and juicy steak and Mary the Cornish hen with herbs and vegetables. The wine list is meager and we wished we’d brought our own wine. We tried the Pisco Sour, which is one of Chile’s tradition drinks, and the house wine with dinner. Cost per couple was an astonishing $30. It was a memorable meal and day in the wine country.

Filed Under: Chile Tagged With: Colchagua Valley Wine Country, Montes winery, Montgras winery

Over the Andes to Chile and the Colchaqua Valley

March 21, 2009 by Joe Becerra

We are now in Chile having made the trek with a hired driver and guide over the Andes from Mendoza to Santiago, Chile. The ride up to the summit on this one and only pass from Argentina to Santiago was a very relaxed ride. The view of the pre-Andes and the Andes are very spectacular. At the summit is the border crossing station. Argentina and Chile are not on the best of terms so maybe that is why it is a big pain to cross. In a very old fashion way, we fill out documents and then get are bags inspected. Janelle’s two bags show something that resembles seeds and so that means a full inspection of her bags and another 30 minutes of delay. It turns out that the “seeds” were lemon drops. On the descent into Chile, the first ten miles have 29 hair-pin switchbacks. It reminds us of the Crookest Street in the World, Lombard St. in San Francisco, but on a grand scale. The road is heavily traveled by trucks and this portion is so steep that many of the trucks travel very slowly in 1st gear so they don’t burn their brakes. Once down, the road is two lanes and passing trucks and slow cars make for a rather nerve-racking adventure.

Read More »

Filed Under: Chile

Latest from the Blog

  • Paso Robles Big Three Wineries
  • Where to go in California Wine Country 2023
  • Fun Things to Do in Wine Country in January 2023
  • Washington Reds
  • Wine, Food, and other Delights in Seattle
-->

CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY REGIONS:

Carneros • Livermore • Lodi • Mendocino • Monterey • Napa Valley • Paso Robles • Santa Barbara County • Santa Cruz Mts. • Sierra Foothills • Russian River • Sonoma Valley

Connect With Us

Want to keep up with Wine Country Getaways? Follow us across our social networks!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Sign up for wine country news from Janelle and Joe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 · Wine COuntry Getaways

 

Loading Comments...