It's great to know someone in the wine industry - a memorable visit to Maipo Valley, Santiago Chile

From our gracious friend, Lyz, we were introduced to TerraMater Vineyards in the Maipo Valley, about 1 hour south of Santiago. Lyz used to work at DT Asia, a wine importer in Shanghai and through her connections, we got in touch with Catherine Wevar, the Commercial Director at TerraMater.

We were hopelessly lost, mistook Maipu for Isla de Maipo, the latter being the correct location. Almost 2 hours late, we finally arrived at the winery. In the meantime, Catherine got really worried and was frantically emailing us, willing to escort us to the winery, wherever we were!

TerraMater Vineyard with Andes foothills in the background.

Horribly late, Catherine nevertheless greeted us with a smile when we got out of the car. Driving us in her red SUV, she brought us on a very comprehensive tour of the vineyards - showing us different grape varietal plants, types of terroir, irrigation methods, explaining the fruit trees they have and the history of how the founder, an Italian immigrant, started growing grapes on this initially very infertile 50 hectares of land.  She ended the tour with a generous (or should I say, lavish) tasting in the barrel storage room. Opening 5 brand new bottles just for us, we tried a Zindanfel/Syrah blend, a 100% Zin (ya, she knew we were from California and wanted us to compare Chilean Zins with California Zins),  a Carmenere, a 100% Altum Cab, and a Cab/Zin/Syrah blend. We told her that the Altum Cab (pictured on right) was our favorite and guess what happens next? She handed us the bottle and told us to enjoy it over lunch!

TerraMater also produces some very good quality olive oils and, knowing that we are also olive oil fanatics, Catherine did an olio tasting with us too. Not with bread, but with cups, slurping it like wine. Their olive oils are also very good, especially their award-winning Petralia. We would have purchased some, except we would have to lug them to Patagonia.

We were given a truly a memorable and extremely hospitable wine tour (which cost us absolutely nothing) and we got a whole bottle of Cab to enjoy over lunch -- we know this is unique. And even though we told her that we are not from the wine industry ourselves, Catherine continued to show us the grace and hospitality that is rendered to wine professionals.  We know this wouldn't have been possible without an introduction from our dear friend, Lyz.

Amelia (Chardonnay), Don Melchor 2010 and 1992 (Cabernet Sauvignon) from Concha y Toro

Following TerraMater, we headed to Concha y Toro, probably the most famous and biggest wine empire in Chile. The place was massive and being a Sunday over the holiday period, there was a zoo of people. Choosing to just sample their wines at the bar, I opted for their Premium tasting - their best Chardonnay Amelia and their most highly-medaled Don Melchor cab. The Amelia was delicious, reminding of HDV chardonnay, one of my favorite chardonnays. The 2010 Don Melchor (retailing at over $100) was IMO average, the 1992 Don Melchor (retailing at over $200) was again IMHO, way past its prime. I simply cannot imagine paying $200 for a wine that tasted so awful, I couldn't even take a second sip.