Biking amongst the Vineyards

Spending a few days in Maipu really allowed us to tour all kinds of different vineyards, drink all kinds of wine, and go to two different olive oil factories. As Jesse had control of the camera for most of the vacation, we don't have that many pictures of our wine tours, but here are some of my favorites.
We toured two wineries the first day, five wineries and one olive oil the second day, and one olive oil factory the third day. I had no idea how different olive oils could be. The first place we stopped at had three different species of olives there, including a native tree to Argentina. The oils were very different, and it made me realize that the quality of the oil really can change the taste of what you are eating. And I never knew that black olives and green olives came from the same tree- green olives turn black as they stay on the tree!

We bought a few bottles of wine to bring back to Asuncion with us, and I am currently having a glass of one of them. I wish we could have brought back more, but transporting them back to the states or to Colombia would have been difficult.

There might not be anything better than drinking good wine with good friends!

Some information on Wine

Before I start in on all the wonderful things we did in wine country, I thought I'd give some of the information on wine that we learned on this trip first.

First, red and white wine can all made from purple grapes. While some green grapes are used for some white wines, others are made from red/purple grapes. What determines whether a wine is red or white is if the juice of the grapes had been in contact with the skin of the grapes. The skin gives the pigmentation of the wine and releases tannins into the wine. The different grape varieties give the wine its name; cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec, cabernet franc, syrah, etc. (All of the above types of wine we sampled during our tastings)

I think everyone has seen the I Love Lucy episode where she stomps on the grapes. As much fun as that would probably be, its not very economical or practical. The grapes are squeezed to release the juice. The first pressing is the best one, and is usually used for the top line wine that the winery makes. Then the grapes are pressed again, and again. Usually grapes are only pressed three times. If the grapes are squished too much, then the seeds break and the flavor can turn bitter.
After the juice has been extracted from the grape, the juice needs time to ferment, usually a few weeks. During this time, the sugars in the juice turn to alcohol. The wine is usually stored in big tanks that will allow the carbon dioxide that forms to escape.
Then, if it is a lower quality red wine, white wine, or rose, the wine is bottled. Some red wines however, get put into oak barrels to age. The longer the wine is in the oak barrel, the more flavors get drawn out of the wood into the wine. There are two kinds of oak that are used, French oak and American oak. Each oak gives a different flavor to the wine. Each barrel is used just three times before it is discarded. The first use of the barrel is the best one, and is usually used for the top line wines.
Some wine is aged in the oak barrels for two years, others for 3 or 6 months. It depends on what flavors or undertones the winemaker desires in the wine. The different flavors that sophisticated palates can taste in wines come out during the fermentation and storing process. Those flavors (tobacco, blueberry, cherry, citrus, smoke, cinnamon, etc) are not added to the wine, but simply come out of the juice and sommeliers (wine tasting experts) use these flavors to characterize wines.

Winery Tour in Santiago

Jesse and I started our current trip way back on December 18th. We flew to Santiago, Chile, and were standing in the customs line ran into another teacher. During this accidental rendezvous, we discussed getting together to do a winery tour on the next day. I, being the wine connoisseur that I am, really voted for the tour.

Chile is world renowned for its wines, and there are wineries all over the central area of Chile. We decided to go to the most famous winery, Concha y Toro, because unlike some of the other wineries, we actually drink this wine at home.

Concha y Toro exports more wine than any other winery in Chile. The tours take place at where the winery started, and part of the tour grounds are where the proprietor used to live. The Concha y Toro label has many different lines, from pretty cheap to exquisite.

Outside of the tour were large casks of wine just waiting for a beautiful picture to be taken.

As we walked along the tour, we saw the storage facilities where the wine is kept in oak barrels. It was interesting, because they use mainly oak wood to make the barrels, and most of the oak is shipped in from the U.S. One type of wine, called carmenere, is only grown/made in Chile, and the grape variety was only rediscovered in Chile a few years ago.

The winery offers a wine tasting with a sommelier, to teach us a little bit about the different types of wine they have. Each type of wine (merlot, syrah, cabernet sauvignon, and carmenere) has a specific type of cheese or flavor that helps bring out the flavor in the wine. I didn't actually think it was true, that cheese or a specific food really accentuated a wine, but its true. It was amazing how much more body the wine had after tasting the cheese. We learned the correct way to breath wine to allow for all the flavors to be enjoyed, and how to properly taste test different styles of wines.

After the sommelier was finished teaching us everything she knew about wine, we were able to finish our wine, take a glass with us, and scout out the wine shop. It was a really nice way to spend part of a day, and we definitely plan on taking our newly found wine knowledge with us on our next trip to the grocery store.