The grandeur and size of the wineries we visited in Chile was quite a surprise. Walking the grounds at Concho y Toro in the Maipo region of Chile felt like we were walking through a five page spread in Town and Country magazine.
If I’d done a bit more research ahead of our visit, I would have learned that Concha y Toro origins are rooted in Chilean nobility and aristocracy dating back to the 1800’s. After seeing the gorgeous estate, it makes perfect sense. We got a rare opportunity to tour the home where Don Melchor, the company’s founder and namesake of the iconic Chilean Cabernet, lived with his family in the late 1800’s. Talk about grandeur!
We also got a look at the ‘cave of the devil’ – a century’s old wine cellar where the devil is said to roam…the namesake of Concho y Toro’s Casillero del Diablo Cabernet.
Don Melchor built the beautiful home for his wife. Her unusual photo was displayed on one of the end tables. She sports a mustache! Our guide told us the mustache represents power—that’s how women who had power were often photographed…with a mustache added. Can you imagine!
The entire tour was fascinating. And the wines? Well, in a word…delicious! The ’09 Terrunyo Carmenere was wonderful. It reminded me of the luscious fruit on my grandmother’s boysenberry bushes. Sipping the Terrunyo was like biting into a bunch of boysenberries – juicy and bursting with flavor.
And the godfather of them all, the ’08 Don Melchor Cabernet was a luscious, big wine that lives up to its hype–flavors of dark cherry, chocolate and vanilla…it could have been dessert all by itself. This cab would make a perfect holiday wine alongside a juicy prime rib. I’m beginning to really like these Chilean wines! From here we travel to Argentina…stay tuned. And a very big thank you to At&t who kept us tuned in, plugged in and able to communicate with all of you back in the states. My iPhone apps were invaluable for navigating.
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