“Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.”
Andrew Zimmern
I promise, this post won’t be as long as the previous one. This morning everyone asked how I was feeling after such a long hike the day prior. Surprisingly, I was just a little sore in my calves, but overall, I felt fine. I slept like a baby — exercise and wine can do that to you.
After breakfast we headed down the mountain again, another hour long drive to Casa Donoso in the Maule Valley. When we first arrived, I thought it was just like the one we visited Tuesday, a mix of old and new buildings, with beautiful, colorful flowers everywhere. After a few minutes, you realize this place is different, it’s more peaceful, feels a little less commercial, and the staff really want you to learn about their wines, and what makes them so special. They say its the soil with its volcanic ash, and the dry weather.
We started the day with yoga on a lush green lawn, surrounded by trees, flowers, and grape vines. A beautiful blue sky with hardly any clouds. I could start every day like this. Gina led us through our morning yoga practice, her classes tend to be focused on strength and power. I quickly realized my body hadn’t recovered from the previous day’s 12+ mile hike (now it is believed it was actually more like 18 miles), but that’s the beauty of yoga, it’s your practice, it doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing. I pushed myself when I could, but eased up when my body told me to.
After yoga, we ventured over to the dining facility, a very modern, stunning building with outdoor seating areas, a fire pit, and a view of the vineyards. A short distance from us were three beautiful horses. They made me smile as they stood close and nuzzled one another as they enjoyed their time in the morning sun.
We had two representatives from the vineyard tell us about the vineyard and their wines. They worked together to answer our questions. We sampled a wine, then they walked us through the vineyard to a lookout post, where we could climb to the top and get a better view of the winery. They quickly realized this was a group of women that love their wine, and after sampling our second wine, they asked if we wanted to try more wines that other groups had sampled, but hadn’t finished the bottles. What group doesn’t finish an open bottle of wine? We left no wine for the group that followed us. We tried Sauvignon Blanc, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and three red blends from their limited release Sucesor line. The Carmenere had a peppery taste, not bad, but not my favorite. Their Malbec was smooth, easy to drink. I bought a bottle to share with the group, cost less than 6,000 pesos or about $7. My favorite was the Sucesor blue label that had Cabernet Franc as part of the blend- it had a faint vanilla finish. I wanted to buy some, but Tara got the last bottle, luckily for me she shared it at dinner.
After our tasting, we toured the manor house, built in the 1800s, it is used by families of brides and grooms when they get married there. It’s filled with antiques, and has a beautiful courtyard. We saw the wine laboratory, the tasting room for the winemakers, the metal and clay casks that the wine is aerated and aged in, as well as their “wine library”, which covers two walls, one bottle of every wine they have ever produced; they are clearly never touched as the dust was pretty thick on some of those bottles. We joked about leaving our day jobs to become winemakers. Personally, I’d prefer Master Wine Taster for my next job title.
It was then time for lunch. I don’t have a detailed menu like the previous vineyard. This meal was a bit more traditional. Three courses, with just two wines – a Sauvignon Blanc, and a red that I didn’t see the label of, probably a Cabernet Sauvignon.
We started with Ceviche with Quinoa, the fish was so fresh. The main course Pastel de Choclo. A traditional dish, that has a corn, polenta like layer over chunks of beef in a sauce. The corn layer has sugar over it, so it has a sweet-savory taste. It comes in a large clay pot. It was so delicious, but I don’t think any of us were able to finish our serving. We finished with fresh berries over a layer of something that reminded me of a pavlova with a touch of caramel sauce and coffee. After all that food, we stopped at a little hidden gem – a family that makes different flavors of gelato. I got hazelnut.
After we returned home we relaxed, and learned about Chakras, Mudras, and Mantras. We made our own Mala bracelet. When I was heading back to my cabin I remembered to look up at the sky. I was in awe, the stars were breathtaking. Never in my life have I seen a night sky like this. I decided I would enjoy my final night sipping wine under the stars.
Ciao~
413 Girl Travels the World 
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