 |
| Outside the prestigious Almaviva winery |
 |
| The 2008 red had to be revered before tasting! |
Our guide, Cynthia collected us to drive to the
Maipo Valley wine region. However, the driver couldn't find the
Almaviva winery. We got there eventually - it was a huge place. We saw all the steel tanks, the grape press and the French barrels, and learnt about the history of winemaking in Chile. The
Carmenere grape was discovered in 1996 and was resistant to phylloxera. Then we were allowed to try the
Almaviva 2008 red wine blend - but at 250 dollars a bottle it was too expensive to buy.
We had lunch in the Bella Vista area in an area of restaurants and craft shops,
Patio Bellavista. We tried
sushi. It was excellent. We also looked at
lapis lazuli jewellery, a local speciality. Afterwards we went to the park on the hill, but the funicular there wasn't working. We returned to the hotel by metro, talked to Laura on Skype and had a drink in the open bar across the main street, which was very full tonight.
