A final day to remember! We devoted our visit to Viña Encierra, a family owned estate just a half hour from Santa Cruz. The family originally went into partnership with the Rothschild family in 1988 and many people may recall the Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon as being one of the first Chilean reds to gain a top class reputation.
In 2000, they went their separate ways and a few years later Viña Encierra was created by the family. They make around 100,000 bottles a year but have a large vineyard area and they sell the majority of their grapes to other wineries – keeping the best fruit for themselves.
Arriving at the winery we met Antonio – husband of owner Maria who was in Dusseldorf for Prowein and Ines Patron who is in charge of tourism. I had an inkling of what was coming next but no one else really knew what to expect.
Donning Viña Encierra aprons and baseball caps, we drank some coffee and listened to Antonio give a summary of the family history. Then Ines took over…..we headed into the vineyards armed with a plastic box and some secateurs and the instruction to fill the box. This was great fun as many people had never had the chance to pick grapes and realise at first hand just how hard it is! Fortunately, we were only on duty for 30 minutes, during which time we cut bunches and then manually destemmed them.
Back to winery and the grapes were in the press and we awaited the chance to taste the freshly pressed juice a bit later over lunch. We took a quick walk into the winery and their family chapel where they hold a monthly mass for the village.
From the chapel to their Quincho – the place where they make their asados. This was a beautiful spot just into the hillside overlooking the vineyards. A quite magnificent asado was in place with revolving meats, sausages, amazing salads, breads and empanadas. We washed down the most delicious food with their fabulous wines and revelled in an utterly lovely lunchtime experience.
Ines and Antonio created a wonderful experience that felt very personal and many people described it as truly memorable and unforgettable.
The day was not yet over – as it was our final night, I felt we had to do a last night dinner at the excellent Santa Cruz hotel. A tasty salad, stuffed and rolled beef and a frothy chocolate dessert finished us all off.
Our first Chile tour was over. Three people had completed all four legs of the South America tour which is true devotion to the cause and we all got wonderful insights into the philosphies of different wine estates, discovered the incredible charm of the people we met, admired the diversity of wines and contrasting scenery and embraced just a small piece of what South America has to offer.
The next morning we headed back to Santiago from where some of us spent a day before an early flight to Montevideo – our second tour to Uruguay beckons.