I’am Back from Chile..What an expereince!

Good Morning!

First of all, I did not post blog updates while I was gone for the past month in Chile. I planned to update on a daily basis, but honestly by the time I got to my room each night, I was WHIPPED! I had no brain cells left from working and learning.

So, I let myself off the hook and promise to walk you through all steps of my trip when I returned. So here we go!

This opportunity is really a once in a lifetime chance to do everything any student of wine would want to experience. When Lapostolle posted they were looking for an apprentice, I had to go for it. I was selected from 1000’s of applicants. I like to think they could feel my passion and picked me out of pure destiny. (This total trip lasted almost a month, so to prepare you, I will discuss a few days each blog until I tell the entire trip experience).

The prep work it takes to be away from my day to day life took some planning, pay all bills or set up payments, get someone to hold your mail, water the plants, check the cat into the Palm Pet Resort and of course set up my cell service for Chile…(There will be more on this later).

My entire packing process was easy, working in the winery and vineyard…boots, jeans, fleece etc, but they had me set up for some very elegant events too. So, heels, slacks, blouses too. When I left Dallas I had on jeans a tee shirt and flip flops, a purse and a backpack. When I landed and was met by my driver Christian and my translator Dani, my luggage was still hanging out in Texas and would not catch up for 3 days!

Santiago was beautiful and reminded me of a much larger San Francisco. The biggest surprise was how clean the city was. Also, my first thought about the language was “this sounds nothing like I heard in Spanish class”. My tutor had warned me they spoke a very fast and different version of Spanish. She was correct! They even say they speak Chilean not Spanish.

Day one I took in many sites with Dani and she was awesome, showing me sides of the city I would have never found on my own. The energy of the city was vibrant and the taxis ripping through the streets, very exciting!

Later that night, I was picked up by Julian and his wife Lauren. (forgive me for leaving out their last name). We headed to the W Hotel for dinner and drinks. They might be the most interesting couple I have ever met up to this point in my life. They are from France and also lived in Japan for 10 years and then to Argentina and now they live in Chile. He is the VP of Sales for the Asian market for Moet Hennessy and she was with Verona Chocolate for years until they started having a family. Their entire careers have been submerged in the high end dinning and wine industry.

I could have listened to them for hours. Their travels, the foods, wines and industry knowledge they shared was so deep and generous. I had the good fortune to meet up with Julian 3 more times in the past month and all I can say is, he is my idea of the perfect gentleman.

While dining I tried anything that I was told that locals would eat and he pointed out a corn/crab/casserole dish and I ordered it, along with Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc, perfect pairing! The night was a great kick off to the entire trip. We switched over to the Clos Apalta wine and had dessert, perfect chocolate and deep red Chilean wine combo.

Tomorrow I will walk you through day two of the trip! I will discuss buying clothes in Chile, my surprise with AT&T, and will discuss the wines at a much deeper level!

I will post a few photos each day also!

Much LOVE and wine,
Tammi