The wineyards Viu Manent and Balduzzi (The Colchagua and Maule wine valleys)

Our first stop was in the Colchagua wine valley, which is Chile’s biggest and best-established wine region. This is where some of Chiles best red wines are produced. Here more than 20 wineries are open to the public, so it was hard to choose, but “Google” is great to finding new information on the wineries and tours.

Our first stop Viu Manent in the Colchagua wine valley

We went for a short walk between the different kinds of grapes. We don’t really know anything about wine, but we did recognize some of the grapes like this a Chardonnay. We like to taste different wines, and buy the wine we like (if it is not to expensive – there is a limit).

We asked for a tour, but no tours in English where available until two days later. We didn’t wanted to stick around in the area, so we just went for the tasting

Okay, we didn’t had the wine tasting in this room, but in the shop. We tasted four different kinds of red wines, but none of them was a favorite (the tasting was free). Instead we bought a Late Harvest 2015. In the surrounding area we enjoyed a Viu Manent rose wine and shared the bottle (bought it from the Viu Manent restaurant, where the wine was cooled). Maybe we shouldn’t have shared the whole bottle – but we had fun!

After all that exercise we lay down in one the hammocks – the surroundings are so beautiful

We stayed at Viu Manents parking lot – cooked dinner and went to bed. Made healthy broccoli salad with some spicy meat on top. Who knew that fresh and crunchy broccoli could taste that good! It must be after all the canned food we have eaten wlEmoticon-smilewithtongueout The wineyards Viu Manent and Balduzzi (The Colchagua and Maule wine valleys) Even a dog tried to get a bite.

Second stop Balduzzi vineyard in the Maule wine valley

No need for reservations ahead of time for a tour. We got to Balduzzi a family-run Chilean winery, which is located in the heart of the Maule wine valley. The Balduzzi family came to this region in the early 1700s and realized that it was perfect for winemaking. Now three generations later Jorge Balduzzi, his family and their team of 60 experts work together in producing the highest quality of wine. Started out with a tasting in the shop and was then on a short tour (in English).

We like the wine tasting selection: two reds, a white and a late harvest

We really loved the Late Harvest, and bought four bottles – now a month later (sitting in the van and updating the blog), we should have bought more! 5000 (7-8 USD or 50 DDK) pesos for a 750 ml bottle, that is a really good price, especially compared of what we are use to in Denmark. In Denmark we have never taste, seen or head of the wine Late Harvest (we will look for it when we get back home).

Back to the tour, which passed by on the the old machines, that was used for mushing the grapes. The problem was, that it mushed the seeds too, which gave the wine a more bitter taste.

This old barrel (in the background of the left picture )was used to age the wine in the old days, but now they use aluminum tanks. In the left picture you also see a grape/wine press, which was used to get all the juices out of the grapes – it is like making homemade apple juice in Denmark.

The finer wines are still aged in oak barrels. Typically the oak comes from France or the United States. The oak barrels adds flavor to the wine, and one barrel can only be used 2-3 times (the oak runs out of flavor). Then the wine is put on bottles and stored for several months or years – the longer the wine are stored in the bottle, the more flavor the wine gets, or the flavor intensifies during the storage time. The good quality wine that are aged the oak barrels never goes bad, and can be store for many years.