Walkway up to Casas del Bosque

Good Morning!

I liked this winery so much I went here twice! I was first taken to this Casablanca winery by my interpreter Dani when I was not yet working and the time was so memorable, When my family came to join me and we were visiting many areas of Chile, I took them to this winery and vineyards.

The first thing that struck me about this vineyard was it’s location, we were driving through a very clean, small town and all of a sudden vines popped up and we were at their vineyard and winery of Casas del Bosque. Once we we arrived the buildings were stark white with brownish, red tiles on the roof. It had a long, wide tiled walkway up to the greeting area and once in that area you could go right and see the production area or turn left and you had the tasting room, store and an very upscale restaurant.

So first thing, I was introduced to a young guide who spoke English and his name was Raio, if I am spelling this correctly. He took me over to the vineyard and told me all about bio dynamic farming and how they strive to be an organic vineyard. then we headed into the winery and it was spotless. It was calm, quiet and so clean. We discussed how long the winery had been organic, how many wines they made and the benefits of making wine in that way and how much wine they made etc.

We walked over to the tasting room and it is set up like a huge formal dinning table in a really cool glass encased room. So it looks really high end but the feeling is young and high energy. The table was full of people except for my spot and all I could hear was Chilean Spanish being spoken. The other guide was speaking in Spanish and Raio said to me I will speak in English for you and the entire table looked at me and started to laugh, and then they said, that is great we are from Ohio and can barely understand what he is saying! So that worked out perfectly!

On the table in front of me were 5 glasses and a booklet called Descriptores Aromaticos, it was like a pamphlet, that was folded up in 8 sections and each section had the name of a wine (grape) at the top and under it were all the objects you might recognize if you were tasting that wine. Each also had a picture of the wine itself and if they made more than one of that varietal they showed each label so you could make the mental connection. So on the page with Chardonnay under the label art you would see pictures of mango, apples, bananas, pineapple, peaches and under the Pinot Noir labels you saw mushrooms, vanilla, almonds etc… they had created this for anyone to understand for all eight of their grape varieties. This was really helpful to everyone tasting because speaking in another language is tricky and trying to describe the wines became much easier for everyone.

I tried a total of 8 wines including 3 reserves and I fell in love with 2 of the wines. I loved the Chardonnay and the Carmenere. Last year I fell in love with unoaked chardonnay after trying the wines made by Cindy Cosco the winemaker of Passaggio Wines in Napa, California. Since then, it is really hard for me to enjoy the Chardonnays that have spent much time in those famous french barrels. But in Chile, or at least what I experienced is no winemakers are using oak with whites and the Chardonnays are so clean, crisp and refreshing without becoming tart or tangy, very balanced and elegantly floral.

The Carmenere was really smooth. It was big, bold, balanced and smooth. I had tried a few Carmenere’s before going to Chile but I was going to get a full baptism in Carmenere tastings over my time in the their country and I have grown to really love the beauty of the powerful little grape! So I bought a bottle of each!

Next my guide Dani and I headed in to restaurant and we were treated like queens with lunch and many wines to pair every course with. It was a beautiful meal, perfect parings and by the time dessert arrived I was smiling ear to ear!

Now let me fast forward to my second trip to Casablanca. After the harvest was over and I was done working my apprenticeship, my family came to join me in visiting the country. When we were driving through Casablanca and I saw the sign for Casas del Bosque, I wanted them to try these wines and they were equally impressed. They ended up purchasing several bottles of Syrah and Sauvingnon Blanc. (In a future blog I will tell you how I ended up getting all these beautiful wines home).

Their grounds and vineyards are a true show place, the food was AWESOME and the wines are impressive without costing an arm and leg. They have English speaking guides too!

One of the 6 wineries in Casablanca I visited but the only one I went to twice!

Have a great weekend, have some wine and let me know what you had, what did you serve with it, who you were with and how did you like it….I guarantee you will remember more about the experience than you will about how the wine tastes! Have FUN!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

One of the views in Chile

Part of the view at Montes Alpha winery and vineyards

Good Morning!

Montes Alpha’s winery is about a mile from Lapostolle’s Clos Apalta and I had heard much hype about them while in Chile. I had actually tried Montes wines back in the US before I came to Chile. Everyone kept saying the winery is huge and is awesome to tour. I had driven past the winery several times and the place was massive and in the most picturesque setting ever, at the bottom of the mountain and miles of vineyards as far as you can see.

So we arrived and it was chilly and windy and the “front” of the winery was really contemporary and so sleek and hundreds of steps going up to the winery entrance. Walking up to the steps you see the Cafe and all the fountain and pools, it was beautiful, it looked like the grounds of a museum.

At the top of the stairs we met our guide and he was an English speaking young man and he took us through a very cool and modern lobby with hundreds of famous people’s pictures with the winemaker and owners of Montes Alpha. They had a great story about a winemaker who still makes the wine and I was also told they are the 2nd largest wine producer in Chile, the biggest being Concha y Toro.

When we walked out to see the production area, all I could see was stainless steel tanks forever! It seemed to go on and on and on. The size was impressive in it’s own right, but then they took us down to the barrel and aging room. It was set up like a concert hall and the moment you stepped in the room you lost all the sounds of the production area, like fork trucks and clangs of the metal clasps being released, all the noise ended and all I heard was soft chanting monk music playing in the background and the lights were dim and the mood was so still and relaxing.

The barrels are in a semi circle, and on different levels, it was set up just like a symphony orchestra. It was just so visually impressive and we all heard the story about how they wine ages and is allowed to be silent and become the final wines in this amazing setting. Then we were taken to the tasting shop and I had to say they make so many different wines and has so many different labels. It was interesting to hear the stories of each different brand they have released. Next we ran into another tour group and they were VIP’s and they invited us to join them in their tasting!

We had signed up for a 5 wine tasting, but the VIP’s had a 12 premier wine tasting set up so we joined in, SCORE! More wine and more great wine is always better! Anyway, the room was set up over looking the vineyards and the mountains and they wines started to flow, I actually liked all their wines but did not love them and did not find any one wine that jumped up and said buy me and smuggle me back the US in you bag. This surprised me, but I also think I had been tasting for several hours at this point and maybe my taste buds were numb.

Montes is a great wine producer, huge variety of wines they release and they are very affordable on a daily basis. I did take many notes on their whites so if I were going to bring some home it would have been the Sauvignon Blanc. After the tasting with my 8 new friends we headed down to the cafe that overlooked the fountains and pools and vineyards…it was a perfect afternoon to hang out and just enjoy the great day of wine tasting!

Tomorrow, I will talk about the winery, vineyard and wines of Casas del Bosque.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

The acres and acres of stainless steel tanks at Montes

The Barrel and aging room at Montes...it is beautiful and the chanting music piped in was like a spa for wine.

Wall of wines at Montes Alpha

One of the custom labels of Viu Manent wines

Good Morning!

The next vineyard I visited in the Santa Cruz Chile area was called Viu Manent. I was really looking forward to hearing about their wines and their story when I arrived. we boarded a horse drawn wagon and toured the vineyard. This is the perfect vineyard to visit if you have kids with you. It is not set up like any other vineyard/winery I toured while in Chile. It is a serious winery that has also kept in mind that visitors might have family with them.

As we loaded into the wagon, and I noticed that when we return to the winery they have a restaurant, tasting room and an outdoor area for the everyone to play and many volleyball courts. People were having a blast and the smell of the grilled meats and other foods, well that was calling my name as well. The horses start trotting and the guide starts talking about the history of the wines. This winery has been family owned since 1935 and they are located in the valley of Colchagua within the Santa Cruz Mountains. This was the first winery I visited that did not have grapes growing up in the steep part of the hills.

Many of the wineries in Chile make their money from Carmenere and Viu Manent does make a nice wine using the Carmenere grape but what I found out is they love the Syrah grape at Viu Manent. They produce more of the Syrah and it is their largest selling varietal. They also buy grapes from several other growers too. The ride was great fun and I am going to see if I can load up the video of the ride, but I have a handheld camera and I am sure it will be shaky!

I also learned they lost much of their winery during the earthquake and rebuilding it still going on. They also had just ripped up a very large section of land that had been a “garden” to plant more vines for future grapes. After the ride we went to the tasting room. I had never tried their wines so I was excited and first thing I noticed were the unique labels. There were 7 wines in front of us and each label was created by a very famous Chilean artist. Then the last bottle was a more traditional label in terms of what I had seen so far on the trip.

We started with the light whites and moved up into the big, bold reds. Each wine really had a very distinct profile. By this point in my trip, I could tell Carmenere from Syrah from Cabernet and Merlot and I noticed these wines had really different personalities and our guide talked about how wines from the bottom of the valley really had a different profile than the wines from just a mile or two away. He was right and I have to say the Syrah spoke to me. I had to snag a couple of bottles to bring back with me.

After the tasting was finished I had to check out the meats they were grilling and I had the chance to try the Syrah with the food….YUM! The deep, balanced fruitiness of the wine cut the richness of the Chilean beef and my mouth was loving the experience. It was truly a perfect pairing. I think the closest thing I can compare it to is if I grilled tri-tip and had a big California Zinfandel, but theirs was better!

I have been looking around since returning home and you can find Viu Manent easily and it is not overpriced I picked up a bottle for 12.99 last week. Grill something red, open a bottle and let the evening be priceless!

Tomorrow, I will share with you my tour of Montes Alpha winery and vineyard!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Look for this label in the US to try Viu Manent

Stainless tanks from Italy at Neyen wines in Apalta

Good Morning!

Instead of me describing a process in winemaking today, I thought I would share with you some stories and pictures of some other wines I had the chance to visit and try their wines!

I think one of the things I have to keep in mind when talking about each of these wineries is I have never been to a winery and not been inspired. Over the years and all over the world, I have been to massive production facilities, I have been to state of the art tasting rooms and some of the buildings have been as simple as a small barn or even a place that looked very similar to a storage unit.

I have met winemakers from all walks of life. Some were raised in a vineyard, some changed careers late in life, some are very hands on and some are just figure heads in the company. I love the diversity of personalities of the winemakers. Many have been quiet and just focused on the wine, others have been the kinda folks who go grab a couple of glasses and take me into the barrel room, we sample and I hear stories for hours and I am totally entertained. Chile, was no different.

I went to a total of 18 wineries while I was there. When my apprenticeship was finished, I took an extra week to travel to the three main wine growing regions (Casablanca, Maipo and Santa Cruz). Today, I want to discuss Neyen wines. Neyen is located in Santa Cruz. I had not tried their wine before, honestly, I had never heard of them before.

I went on a private tour with three of the top international salespeople from Moet. They folks make a living selling premier wines in all corners of the world. They taste wines and sell wines for a living and I was excited to see what questions they ask and how they taste the wines. We started out in the vineyard and our guide, Rodeo, was an excellent English speaker so I was really happy.

The main things I learned in this part of the tour was that Neyen had tons of damage during the last earthquake. They are located in the Apalta area of Santa Cruz. The two grapes they blend together to make their famous blend Espiritu de Apalta (Spirit of Apalta) is made of Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon. Carmenere is the principal grape in the blend. The vineyards were planted about 120 years and that creates a high density vineyard.

Then we walked through the fermentation building, it is really an international effort, the tanks come from Italy and the building has a cool design. On the mountian side of the building the windows are way up high to let the light flow in during the morning and on the opposite side of the building the windows are at ground level for light in the afternoon. There are only 9 lights in the entire building and the entire place is energy efficent and total green. They are also a gravity winery so the way it is laid out keeps the grapes at the ground level and as they ferment the wine flows lower into the underground levels of the winery to control the temperatures while it is aging.

Next we went over to the barrel room and it was beautiful. the building was rebuild in 1890’s and it is all adobe, it’s so beautiful and rustic. then we moved into the tasting area and it was AWESOME! So modern, sleek and over looks a huge white rose garden and veranda area. I have attached a photo of the tasting area, I have never seen a tasting set up like this, very cool.

Neyen lost much of their wines during the earthquake. Now we taste, the wine was elegant, rich and since it is made with Carmenere it had that boldness I expected. This wine has always scored high on the Robert Parker and Wine Spectator point scale, and I can taste why. It was beautiful and the experience of tasting with experts, I learned so much. My friends I tasted and where so quiet when they try wines, normally when tasting with others, people start discussing tastes, flavors, aromas, and what to pair with as soon as they finish their taste…these guys were still and started writing notes like crazy. They loved this wine also and when we jumped into the truck to head back to Lapostolle, they chatted on and on about the wine. When I said I have never waited so long to start talking about the wines, they laughed and said, you were quiet so we did not start talking! Hahaha

Other info about Neyen, you can easily find this wine in the US, they are owned by the man who owns the largest telecommunications and mobile phone company in Chile. You can take horseback rides and tours of the winery by appointment and there is still some construction going on to fix up after the earthquake. It is off the road a little bit and the road it takes to get you there….roll up your window…the dust is like Pig Pen on Charlie Brown.

I really enjoyed the wine Neyen produces Espiritu de Apalta. I loved hearing the stories of the winery and of the rebuilding since the earthquake. It you go to Santa Cruz, put this one on your list to visit. I brought bottle home and can not wait to find the right food to pair it with.

Tomorrow I will discuss Viu Manent and my trip through there vineyard and winery!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

The tasting area at Neyen winery in Chile

Neyen's label...Find it and enjoy the wine!

A load on new barrels for this vintage arrived!

Good Morning!

So last Friday I wrote about the tedious work of picking the grapes off the stems manually and getting the grapes in the barrels…what happens next?

It is interesting to try to describe without using all photos, but let me see if I can paint a picture for you. At the end of the chill line the grapes were taken two places, either in upright french oak barrels with one end taken off the barrel. Imagine a barrel on standing on the end filled with deep purple almost black grapes an there would be a bung in the normally used little hole that is in the middle of the barrel. (Bung is a big rubber cork thing that is used as a stopper). With the end being open the barrel is taken into a room which at Lapostolle is warmer than normal with a high humidity. We would manually punch down the caps, slowly pressing the grapes so they are submerged in the juice that was being created as the weight of the grapes crushed and ruptured the grapes on the bottom.

Once the punch down was complete we would cover the top with super thick plastic film and to secure the plastic we had these massive rubber bands to hold it in place. We had to punch down 4 times during day shift and then again 4 times on the night shift. This process goes on for about 2 weeks. During that two weeks we also had to take the temperature of the fermenting wine to make sure it was not getting too hot or if it was too cool, the yeast will stop working to turn the sugars into alcohol. This is very labor intenstive, but my friend Jespar was overseeing this entire operation. He has traveled the world making wine in France, Argentina, Spain, California and Chile. He has always worked for some of the most prestiguous wineries. He said he choose to come to Lapostolle because he wanted to work in a truly biodynamic winery. He said to me one day, Tammi when you punch down, you can not feel like it is hard work, it is a slow sexy process, let yourself love it.

From that point on each barrel I punched down, I could honestly feel the difference in the texture and the weight of the cap and the grapes. I would taste the wines each time and I could feel the fermentation process starting and all the way through the process, I could tell when the fermentation had stopped. It was really a moment for me to take a second and really feel what the wine was going through. I felt connected to the process more than ever.

Next was the interesting step….How do they get the grape skins out of the barrel? Since they really only want the wine, did we scoop out the grape skins or what? We strained the wine into a new barrel, this barrel was laying on it’s side and of course had both ends on it. Once the final barrel was full of wine, we put a bung into the hole and then we would not touch the barrels unless it is time to top off the barrel. What does top off mean? Well, as a wine is aging in the barrel you want as little oxygen as possible in the barrel, but wine can evaporate, that is called the Angel’s share, wine can also find it’s way into the oak that contains it. So you have to refill with more wine to the proper levels about once a month for the entire time the wines are aging. At Clos Apalta, all the wines age 24 months in barrels before it is bottled.

I think one of the other most interesting days for me was the day the barrel makers came to the winery and showed how to removed the end of the barrel and how to replace it and make sure it would not have any leaks. Making is a barrel is an art form and they are expensive and Lapostolle uses new french oak barrels each vintage, so watching these guys perform their magic was more than awesome.

Much of my time while working in this area of my apprenticeship, was spent punching down, sanitizing, helping move barrels from the receiving area into the “warm” areas. We also had some experimental barrels which were filled with grapes and they were laid on their side. To make sure the grapes were staying moist, our process was to first made sure the bungs were tightly in place, then we had the barrels on a track system and we would roll them over a full 365 degrees one way and wait a few minutes and roll them back into their original places. It was great to see the effort, love and passion at each step of the process. They never cut corners, they never questioned why are we doing this the “long” way…all the winery folks have such a deep love for creating a quality product, it was just a very inspired experience. They all discussed which vintages they enjoyed the most and what part they had in it’s success.

I have often wondered why is it some bottles of wine cost so much more than others…I get the whole product demand aspect and I knew some wines were made with superior grapes and from great locations, but now seeing all the work that happens 2 -3 years before I even think about buying a bottle of Clos Apalta, I wonder why the cost is so fair!

Tomorrow I will discuss some of the other wineries I had the chance to visit and try their wines!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

This view is at the top of Clos Apalta winery looking down to the bottom each level is a different phase for the wine!