On our free day, a group and I decided to visit a vineyard near Santiago that was fairly easy to get to by metro and a 10 min taxi ride. The vineyard was called Viña Cousiño Macul and it was located south of Santiago. The vineyard was founded in 1856 and is still in the hands of the original family (the 6th generation now) which is rare because most vineyards have been sold off to bigger companies in around the Santiago area. The tour that we did was the bike and wine tour which included a guided tour through the vineyard on bikes, a tour through the processing facility where they make the wine, and a tour through the cellar where they stored wines to age. Our tour also included four wine tastings as well. I thought that the tour was so amazing! The vineyard was so beautiful because you could see the mountains from the property and one fact that I found really interesting was that the vineyard actually stretched all the way from the outskirts of the city to Plaza de Armas when it was first founded, but was slowly sold off over the years. The wine tastings were amazing and our tour guide who was an American from Colorado, showed us the proper way to taste wine which was the “5 S” rule:
See: Look at the wine first and see if it’s transparent or opaque…if it’s more transparent, the wine is much younger, if more opaque, the wine has been aged longer.
Swirl: Swirl the wine in your glass and see if the wine runs slowly or quickly down the walls of the glass. If the wine moves quickly, it will have less body in your mouth because it has less viscosity, and the opposite if it moves slowly.
Smell: Smell the wine and try to pick out different notes. Is it fruity, is it earthy, etc… everyone’s sense of smell is different, so no judgement can be given.
Sip: Taste a small portion of the wine and try to pick out any flavors that you smelled. Are you surprised by the taste? Is it sweet, more acidic, drier, etc…
Savor: Enjoy the wine!
Learning how to properly taste wine was so much fun and I encourage others to try the 5 S rule when trying new wine!
Here are some pics from the vineyard:
Rows of Grapes
Close up of some grape…they were delicious and sweet!
Guide to making some wine!
Viña Cousiño Macul
I was also impressed with the wine tour and vineyards! It was great being able to explore the vineyards and learn about the process of growing grapes and making wine. It was a lot of fun to eat the different grapes that make different wines as well. We learned how smaller grapes contain more sugar which turns into more alcohol in the wine while larger grapes contain more water and less sugar overall. The views were spectacular with the juxtaposition of mountains on one side and the city of Santiago on the other.
I took a Wine and Beer class at OSU and was constantly remembering things I learned as well as learned new information about the winemaking process. It was interesting to apply what I learned in class to the winery. The whole winemaking process was much easier to understand after seeing the machinery in person. It was also helpful to see what machinery they used historically and what they use now. Less than 30 years ago the winery switched from wooden fermenting barrels to stainless steel tanks. The trip helped me better understand the growth of the Chilean wine industry and its place in Chilean culture.
Aaron, I never knew about the 5 s rule, that’s awesome!? Do you think you’re going to use that rule every time you drink wine? Since that was your first trip to a vineyard what was your favorite part about it ? Did you get to eat the grapes? Were you able to mash the grapes with your feet like people do in the movies (I don’t know if that is a real thing or not)? Also how many types of wine did you try and what was your favorite? I think it’s interesting how that vineyard is family owned and passed down, generation to generation. I think it s beneficial for that family to stay in control of their vineyard, instead of coping put to bigger companies. Also do you know any good combinations for wine now? Like what cheese or chocolate or food you should eat with what and what flavors each wine may bring out of them? The winery sounds like it was a lot of fun and I would want to go to one, one day and I think it’s really cool that you spent your free day there learning about the ins and outs of wine.