A Pleasant Afternoon Sipping Wine

Got some extra steps in this morning as halfway to collecting the washing we remembered we hadn't brought the receipt.

We returned via the back roads and as I stopped to take a picture of an interesting old building a guy who'd just parked his car told us that there was a museum and a tea room within the building and it opened in about 30 mins. It soundsed interesting so after dropping the washing off we returned, to find him working there. He did a very good job of selling it.

In the afternoon we went to the Concha y Toro winery, about an hour's drive from Santiago, which happens to be the name of the street we are staying in. In addition to the winery he also bought a very large piece of land in Santiago, which he developed into what is now the Barrio Brazil.

One of the wines they produce is Casillero del Diablo, the devils locker. The story is that people were stealing wine from the cellars so the owner let it be known that the devil lived in the cellars and apparently that stopped the thefts. Obviously we know that is not true as the devil lives in the mine at Potosi, I even lit his fag for him.

The wine's emblem is a red devil, so it seemed fitting that they did a commercial deal in the UK with Manchester Utd. No doubt this Chilean wine has more than contributed it's fair share to Fergie's red nose.

The gardens, like most wineries I've been to were immaculate and the first tastings were done outdoors in the shade of some huge trees. The second tasting was indoors with paired cheeses, 7 tastings in total by the end which was enough to get everyone in the group chatting.

Whilst chatting we met an English couple in their late 20s who were part way through their travels, which was going to take them one year to complete. Makes our trip seem rather lightweight, I'm going to have to up my game!Les mer