16-01-20: Extraordinary Wine Experience

Today, despite the heat, we decided to explore the wine country on borrowed mountain bikes. Unfortunately, almost the entire country is privately owned. Everything is fenced off, so it's not easy to find a path off the road. After a few kilometers, we see an open gate on the right side. The path leads through the vineyards on sandy tracks. There's a chain with a padlock hanging on the gate. Well, the danger is getting trapped inside. But we dare to enter. There's a tractor on the property and the driver should be able to see us. So we ride up a moderately steep hill for a few kilometers and have a great view of the Apalta Valley.

I left my camera at the hotel today, so I have to rely on my old small camera. The vines are already hanging with deep blue grapes. It could be a good year.

After a few kilometers, we reach the end of the road and have to turn back. When we arrive at the gate, we're relieved to see that it's still open. So we continue on the paved road and stop at the entrance gate of a large winery to take a sip of water. In Chile, everyone is extremely friendly and helpful, so it's no wonder that after a short time, the gatekeeper comes over and asks if we're interested in a tour of the winery. No question, we are. So we ride our bikes another two kilometers until we reach the main building. It's extremely stylish and later we find out that we've stumbled upon an extraordinary winery called Apostolle. They only produce two wines and only 100,000 bottles per year. One wine costs 120,- per bottle and the second one costs 40,- per bottle. The winery is owned by a French winemaking family from the Loire Valley, which also operates a second winery nearby that produces standard wines. Apostolle is also affiliated with the Relais Chateaux hotel cooperative and offers some rooms for 1,436,- per night.

The guided tour of the production with a wine tasting afterwards was great. Ruth and I were alone and the winery employee showed us everything and explained it to us. The building spans several floors.

The wines are processed and stored in multiple stages (also floors) here.

The result is an extraordinary and excellent wine.

After this great experience, we continued our journey. But we didn't get far. The next winery had a restaurant, so we decided to stop there and take a well-deserved break. After a good meal and a nice wine, we tried to continue our tour. However, the heat, the food, and the wine were enough to cancel this endeavor and ride back to the hotel.

We ended the great day with dinner at a traditional restaurant (since 1933) and a good bottle of wine (what else).

Chile, a wonderful country!