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