I would say today was my favorite day so far. We first traveled to Viña Indomita, a major
specialty wine producer in Chile.
Justin, who was a very enthusiastic guide, guided us around the
vineyards, production center, and wine cellar.
He taught us about the process for growing grapes to be used for white
and red wines. Casablanca valley was
perfect for white grape production because it is one of the coldest valleys in
Chile, perfect conditions for growing white grapes. Viña Indomita uses the warmer Maipo Valley to
grow most of their red grapes and then ships the grapes to Casablanca Valley in
order to produce the wine. Here are pictures of the vineyards:
After this, Justin showed us the wine production center and
explained the different processes used to produce white and red wines, and also
how wines’ quality is determined. For
white wine, the grapes are compressed in a large tank without breaking the skin
of the grapes. The juice is then allowed
to ferment. For red wines, the grapes
are simply placed in a tank and the weight of grapes above crushes the grapes
below. A similar fermentation process
follows. Afterwards, the wines are aged
in wooden barrels to add flavors. Here
is the production room:
Next we visited the wine cellar where the aging process
occurs. It was most interesting to me
when Justin explained the chemical reactions involved in wine production. Apparently, during the aging process, various
flavor chemicals, called Flavonoids, are formed and give the wine distinct
tastes and smells. This is why sometimes
wines can smell like butter or chocolate or other things. Here is the wine cellar:
Finally, we were given the chance to taste three different
wines. The first was a white Sauvignon
that was very acidic but flavorful. Next
two were red wines, the last of which was made from grapes that are currently
only able to be grown in Chile due to a plague that wiped them out in their
native France. Here is a picture from
the wine tasting:
After leaving Viña Indomita, we traveled to Isla Negra, one
of the homes of the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. It is currently a museum and contains a
restaurant in which we enjoyed a special fish stew that is made with a fish
available only in Chile. It was delicious!
Next we took an audio-guided tour of Pablo Neruda’s house,
which was filled with so many things that I cannot even begin to explain. Pablo Neruda loved the ocean, and built his
house based on the structure of a ship, filling it with myriad marine memorabilia. Here is picture of his belfry:
Outside of his house rested a rocky shore with an incredible
view of the ocean. We all clambered over
the rocks taking pictures while I humorously read and translated some of Pablo
Neruda’s poems. Unfortunately, I
accidentally stepped in a puddle and got my sock wet! Here are some pictures:
At the end of the day, we had a second salsa class in order
to learn more advanced techniques. It
was a lot of fun and the teacher had a great sense of humor and tried to make
jokes even though he couldn’t speak English.
Ultimately, today was an amazing day and I can’t wait to see what else
there is to see!
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