But first... we went galivanting off for souvenirs! We headed to Patio Bellavista, a cool collection of artisan shops, unique restaurants, and McDonald's--a winning combo. We had some time to kill before the tour and needed to do some souvenir shopping so this was perfect. We found some lapis lazuli, some adorable little alpacas, and some other cool things that struck our fancy. All in all, a solid couple of hours killed before our tour.
And we managed to find lunch! at McDonald's! I can feel the judgement from here so let the haters hate. We didn't have much time and you know what, sometimes you just want McDonald's (okay not really, but go with us here). I will say, I think the meat is probably better quality than what we get in America and the fries were just as yummy. We even got toys in our kids meal! JK we did not get kids' meals, we got quater-pounders. We are adults.
I made a heart in my latte? Training to be a barista in a future life. And then our lovely McDonald's meal. Save the judgement because...
How can you judge when we look so darn happy?
Once back at the hotel, we changed into appropriate winery attire, aka dresses and tights and awaited our golden carriage (or 18-seater passenger van of which we were the only 2 in seats). It was a little less than an hour out to the vineyard, so we chatted a bit with our faithful guide Manuel. He was quite nice and very funny. Some snippets: he finds the Canadians hardest to provide for because they're so naive and innocent and leave their stuff everywhere thinking no one will steal it, Madonna can fill a stadium but Katy Perry couldn't, we should drop the ugly bus driver (his words, not ours)--all in all, we had a good laugh.
Eventually, we made it to the main Concho y Toro vineyard and (after realizing we were overdressed) were on our way! We accidentally tried to join a Portuguese tour group but our boy Santiago (a person, not the city) had our back and told us the English tour was 10 minutes later. The English tour ended up being Mari, me, and a nice but awkward man from Sweden so essentially we got the VIP treatment. We saw the old summer house of the Concha (very bougie: Italian outside and Versailles carbon copy inside, or so we were told as the majority shareholders no longer allow you to go inside), the gardens which were quite lovely and somewhat inspired by Monet paintings, and then some of the 10,000 hectares of vines they have growing. Being winter, there weren't exactly any grapes on the vines but we used our imaginations :)
Mari posing with the outside sign...
And then it was my turn
We also thought it would be quite picturesque to have our photos taken in front of the barrel. We're all about creativity and being the first to do something.
While we waited the additional ten minutes before the English tour, we decided to get pictures at the front gate.
This building is the original owner's summer house. He was fancy. And then this is us in his gardens.
This is the dog who is apparently eating all the chickens and rabbits on the property but the tourists love him so they have a hard time keeping him out of the property. Some Monet inspired ponds and water lilies. And all the grapes you could ever wish to see!
I imagine it's quite breattaking in the summer, but it wasn't too shabby a view in the winter either.
Can you tell the difference between all the different grape types? It's the leaves!
Noted for future winery tours, look at leaves to distinguish grape types.
Some good views of the property. Very Wuthering Heights and gothic with all the rain/fog.
We also got to taste some of the wine, a Sauvignon Blanc from the Casablanca vineyard, a Carmonere from a vineyard just south of where we were, and a Cabernet Sauvingnon from grapes grown right where we were standing (give or take a couple thousand hectares). They were all pretty tasty so of course I bought some, but what was most astounding was how cheap some of the wines were. If you visit Napa, Sonoma, heck even Washington vineyards, you're probably looking at at least $15 for a bottle--and thats a really cheap one. Here, there were SO MANY varieties for under $10 and they were good!
One of the yummy wines, and my favorites of the ones we tasted. And me with the glass we got to keep! (Here's hoping I don't break it between now and returning to the States)
In addition to tasting, we took a tour of the cellars where they store the barrels of wine and some of the best bottles. During this we learned why the cellar is called Casillero del Diablo (Cellar of the Devil). Essentially, when the owner first started making his wine, he put the best bottles down in the corner of the cellar and of course, he was very public with that fact so some hooligans came and stole his best wine! The shock! So naturally, he (or some of his underlings) waited in the cellar for a future attempt and scared the bejeezus out of the thieves by pretending to be a devil. Legend spread of the "haunted" cellar and the bottles have forever been safe since.
Some of the barrels in the air conditioned portion of the cellar.
Mari looking lovely with her wine. And down we go into the "haunted" cellar!
Cellar of the Devil. It certainly looks ominous right?
Although once they started the light show with the story of how the legend came to be, maybe it was a little freaky. And there's the devil himself!
Our return to the hotel was uneventful (aside from some other fabulous comments from Manuel) and we decided to end the night drinking some of the wine we just bought and some empanadas we picked up at the local market. All in all, super solid and the excuse we needed for an early night since we had a 6AM flight this morning.... ugh.
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