wine tasting in Chile

If you look back on older posts in this blog, you’ll see that Conrad and I have gone wine tasting a lot while on vacation.  The missing years included such expeditions as wine tasting in Tuscany

and South Africa

as well as a few trips to Napa

and many trips to Paso Robles.  

Funnily enough, we’ve become cocktail people in the meantime,

but we still make room for wine.

This past Saturday was our first full day in Chile.  After the arrival in Santiago on an overnight flight and then the excursion out of the city, Conrad and I were super exhausted.  We slept through until 8:55 on Saturday morning.  Which is lovely, but we were due to join the others at 9:30 in a van to the coast.  Yikes!  We scrambled and made it on time.  Mid-morning we were heading west to Valparaiso with a stop en route planned:  tasting at a winery in Casablanca.

Natasha’s friend Lorena, who lives in Santiago, knew and enjoyed the wines from Casas del Bosque,

and arranged for an 11:00 tasting.  We were set up in a tasting room at a large table

along with two couples.  They spoke Spanish, we spoke English, the woman who gave us the tasting spoke both.  I dishonour her by forgetting her name, but she did a terrific job of presenting the wines.  Knowledgeable, humourous.  She was great!

The wines, too, were quite enjoyable.  

The Sauvignon blanc was reminiscent of ones we had enjoyed in New Zealand, and we bought a bottle.  The Chardonnay was fine, but we preferred the Sauvignon blanc.  The Pinot Noir had a terrific nose, but it was rather mineral-y to me, and while fine, was my least favourite of the five wines.  The Syrah was a surprise.  I often find them peppery, but this was the most approachable of the wines, an easy and lovely tipple.  We bought a bottle.  The Cabernet Sauvignon was a good Cab with some decent age and no scent or taste of green vegetable.  Conrad and I usually avoid Cabs, but this was smoooooth.  

I kick myself for not buying a bottle.  It was the only one of the five (generous) pours I finished.

After the pouring was done, and while I was shopping, the woman (again, sorry) came out with a small tasting of a special blend for me and another man.  Only thirty bottle left.  It was delightful, and that became our third purchase.  I still wish I had gone for the Cab, though!

Were I to come back to Chile (I’d like to), I’d want to do more wine tasting.  See more of the regions, try some other wines (we’ve enjoyed Carmeneres at dinners, for example).  Maybe one day.  If I can find Casas del Bosque in the US in the meantime, I would be happy.

a few more photos from the trip to Valle del Yeso

Not much to say here.  On the heels of the last post, enjoy some more shots from the first drive into the mountains.

Oh, but this:  Chile is stunning!

heading out of the city

We arrived in Santiago on Friday morning.  By noon I was taking a nap in the hotel room.  

At 2PM we were in a van heading away from the hotel, off west, out of the city, on into the Andes.  I had the idea in mind that we were going to a city overlook that also had hot springs, dining, spa, and more.  Nope.

It was a long drive out to the Cajon de Maipo.  And then beyond.  Way beyond.  By 6PM (and one empanada break earlier) we were in the Valle del Yeso park at a place with thermal pools that others were soaking in but in which we declined to splash.  A river thick and brown with sediment ran past.  

The compasses in our phones told us we were at 9600+ feet above sea level.  

Mountains still towered over us.

Whoa.

It’s humbling to be in that setting.  We have a few tall peaks in SoCal, but they top out below 12,000 feet.  Which is impressive, but this was a lot more.  In other words:  whoa!

I’d tell you more about the scenery along the way, but man, I was tired.  I napped so much on that long drive.  Just the same, I did note how graffiti-ed a lot of Santiago was.  Like Lisbon, in a way.  It was cool rolling through the city, though.  

I wish we’d had more time to see it!

We stopped for a late dinner in the way home in San José de Maipo.  

A small town serving lots of tourists, but plenty of locals enjoying a summer night.  We dined in a restaurant patio by the square.  

Plateada for me - flank or skirt steak

(and lots of it) in a plain broth.  Adding rice improved it. The pisco sour also helped.

And then it was back to our room and a loooooong night of sleep.  So long that we almost missed getting up in time for the Saturday trip to Valparaiso!

empanada

So much to blog from this trip, so little free time to blog.  So a few short posts to at least share some of what we are enjoying.

The second word in the name of this blog is food, so food it is.  All over the place in and around Santiago we saw signs for empanadas.  I know empanadas, I have made empanadas.  Chile does its own style.  The traditional filling is beef with onions, almost like French onion soup with pieces of meat, plus black olives and hard boiled eggs.  Also, they are BIG.  

Given that we had deplaned at about 9:00, spent an hour doing customs, waited for Jenny to arrive, got our shuttle to the hotel, napped and refreshed ourselves, waited for Wilson to show up, then hit the road east BEFORE we had lunch, I was glad of a big bite.

As I write this, it’s day four of the trip, and I still think it’s my favourite thing I ate.

Heading out of the country

Canada doesn’t count.  I mean, of course I love my homeland, and it technically is outside of the US, but it doesn’t feel like foreign travel going there.  In any case, there has only been the one visit there in three years, far too little.

It’s Sunday morning, and we’re not in Canada or the US.  Last Thursday we got on a plane to Houston,

connecting through there onto a flight south:  Santiago.  Chile.  The first time in South America for either of us.  But oh, those 8-9 hours in an airplane seat.  My poor butt by the end of it!  The darn thing is, we thought neither of us was going to get an upgrade.  So close on the list, so far.  

And then, there I was, seated before takeoff, watching a movie on my iPad,  an agent came to me and held out a boarding pass that would have put me in a pod seat.  Real food, lie flat.

Husband of the year that I am, I gave it to Conrad.  One spot behind me on the list.  So close, so far.  He had been, well (sorry, Bunny), kind of whiny about the upgrades not coming through.  So there he was, up front.  Oh, he came to check on me.  With, like, 25 minutes left in the flight.  Ah well.  I barely slept on that overnight flight, thanks in part to the woman behind me who kept digging her feet or knees into the back of my seat.  It was like the world’s slowest and most irritating massage chair.  I said nothing to her, though:  I at least had the room afforded me in an exit row and no one beside me.  She was far more crammed in.

So we flew and made it here.  

A nice little boutique hotel

near the river and park and the tallest building in South America.  I napped a lot that day of arrival, and not just in the hotel!

Mum would have been 86 today

Mum would have been 86 today.  She almost made it to 83.  Before I start on posts from the vacation I am on, a short post to remember and celebrate Mum.  I miss you and love you, Mum.

over California again

Tuesday night typing this up, and yes, I made it home.  An early start in NOLA, out the door of the hotel and in a cab to MSY at 4:45.  YAWN.  Ah well.

MSY --> SFO --> BUR.  A bit of a delay coming out of San Francisco, but no worries.  I was on the ground in time to grab lunch.  As we approached Burbank, there were some terrific views of snow on some of the mountains, and then the green of the valleys.  I do believe this is the Santa Clara River valley, somewhere in the vicinity of Fillmore. 

Somewhere that way.

And then it was on the ground and getting picked up by Van, who whisked me away to The Habit for their yummy tuna sandwich and tempura beans. 

Hooray for being home again.

For two days.

Palm & Pine

Tracie had told me that she had had a good dinner at Palm & Pine earlier in the conference.  I always appreciate a recommendation, and a glance at the menu online suggested that I would be happy there.  So when my meetings ended on Monday, I decided to just enjoy a dinner by myself at the bar there.  I got there shortly after opening and parked myself.

It wasn't too far from the hotel, so it was a nice little walk over.  The place wasn't too busy that early.  It was loud.  Interesting music, as far back in the 80s as Asia, of all things.  I read news and such on my phone and sipped my first drink (essentially a variation on a New York sour). 

I was almost done it when the sticky grilled rib tips came out. 

Yep, sticky.  Also, tasty.  And a nice, little heat to them.  I finished my drink, ordered another, the House of the Raisin Sun (I didn't get the name of the first, alas, and I cannot find it online). 

The corn babies came out,

and I started on them.  Then I nursed the (not as sweet as I thought it might be) second cocktail a loooong while.  The restaurant lagged a little, I have to say.  Small kitchen, they were busy, but the third item (from the small bites menu) I ordered was the corner store crudo. 

I read, and sipped carefully, and waited.  Finally, it came.  The crudo was tasty, truly, but wow, three small bites and two cocktails, and that was almost an hour and a half.  I paid up politely and left.

I appreciated Tracie's recommendation, to be sure, but I am glad I wasn't ravenous.  I'd go back, though - good food and interesting drinks.  Next conference, perhaps.

it wasn't just meetings

Here's my history with conferences for, oh, ten to fifteen years now:

• Fly in.
• Check into the hotel.
• Pick up badge.
• Attend meetings
• Drop by receptions.
• Have some good dinners.
• Attend meetings.
• Attend meetings.
• Pack.
• Fly home.

This conference certainly had plenty of meetings for me.  Oh my gosh, yes.  Hours upon hours.  I did pop by a reception or two.  I had some good dinners.  As I write this on Monday night, I have to pack soon and then fly home early on Tuesday.  Typical conference.

But wait, what is this?  I actually went to a few programs?  What?

On Saturday, it was the opening session with Nichelle Hayes in conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone.  Good conversation.  Nic Stone reminded me so much of a longtime colleague and friend, Tiffeni, it was uncanny.

On Sunday, it was our ALA President Lessa Kanani'Opua Pelayo-Lozada and President-Elect Emily Drabinski in conversation with four colleagues who had much to say about organizing as activists.  How did I not know about Elizabeth Martinez before now?

And then today we closed with President-Elect Drabinski in conversation with Ani Di Franco. 

This was after attending the Youth Media Awards, a delightful celebration of so many authors and illustrators and a librarian or two.  I loved the conversation, though - Emily is not the first LGBTQ+ ALA president, apparently, but is likely the first truly open one, and hearing her frame questions multiple times by referring to her own lesbian identity, I was getting choked up.  Wow, it's powerful seeing that someone from my community is in that role.

fog

Oh man.  This photo is from early Monday morning.  That fog!  It lifted later, but remained cloudy all day.  This will post Tuesday, and I hope that when it does post, I am back home with Conrad and Van and Olive in Pasadena.  Fingers crossed.  I need to make it home for my vacation on Thursday!