winery review #2: Concha y Toro

Concha y Toro is one of the most famous wineries in Chile. It even has its own legend that put Chilean wine on the map. I even went down into the “Casillero del Diablo” (Devil’s Cellar).  The tour was great. It was kind of touristy, but lets be honest thats what I am so I enjoyed it. It is a huge winery. While Casa del Bosque was small and quaint this one is BIG. The entry gates are grand and beautiful. There are multiple cellars and vast vineyards. At this one you can even eat grapes off the vine and they have the vines labeled with what grapes they are. I was so surprised that all of the grapes do taste differently. Curly girl had so much fun running around the vines and picking and eating grapes. It was magical. I learned that you can make white and red wine from red grapes. Hey, learn something new every day right? 

I love that view of the mountains from the valley. It is so beautiful. This winery is located in the Maipo Valley. This tour was great because it has multiple cellars. It just makes it more interesting. They have one cellar where they store their absolutely best wine and it is only for the owners and share holders. I would love to get my hands on that!
The breakdown:
Scenery: Beautiful. Grand. I loved seeing the old owners plantation and the view of the mountains is lovely. Overall very grand.
The food: AMAZING. We ate at their restuarant after the tour. We sat outside in the courtyard and they had a band and traditional Chilean dances. The dancers did the Cueca and it was wonderful to watch. Curly girl even got up and did some dancing.
The Wine:
Sauvignon Blanc: Its not great. I mean its good and I would not turn down a glass, but it is too tart. Its not bright and refreshing like I prefer my SB.
Carmenere: In the words of my Chilean friends, esta muy rico. Oh my goodness. It is velvet and smooth and wonderful on the tongue. It is simply devine, in my opinion. I hope I can find it back in the States. I have seen their Cab in the States so I am hopeful. If you can find it where you live go buy a bottle.
Cabernet: It is very good! It is what they are famous for. Its heavier than their Carmenere but not in a bad way. It is rich and full. Overall a very good Cab. I have had this one before I came to Chile, but it tastes better here.
All in all this winery is fantastic. They really do a good job explaining the wine (English tours!) and really do justice to the Chilean wine industry. It was really fun.

These are the stairs down into the Casillero del Diablo. This cellar is really cool. The bricks and mortar and made from a special mixture of egg white, sand and grass and it keeps the cellar the perfect temperate. This is also where the special cellar is that houses the owners/share holders only wine. Yum!
Side note: husband is amazing and wrangles Curly girl when she starts to lose focus so that I can enjoy the tastings. Hes so good!

Winery review #1: Casa del Bosque

Living in wine country is fantastic. I want to start reviewing all the wineries we go to so I dont forget about which ones I liked and this way I can recommend ones to people we may know traveling to Chile.

First on the docket, Casa del Bosque.
Gosh this one is gorgeous, isnt it. I mean it truly is picturesque. This was the first one we went to. And let me tell you, the wine from this winery is still my favorite that I have had in Chile. I mean it is just that good.

 It is nestled in the Casablanca Valley and about an hour from Santiago. With the valley and the mountains all around you kind of forget you are even that close to the city. In my limited experience with Chilean wine I have found that most of the best wines come from the Casablanca valley, especially the Sauvignon Blancs. The Colchuga valley is awesome for Carmenere. Anyway, It was just a perfect morning. We did the tour and the tasting (yumm) and then had a picnic lunch provided by the restaurant while Curly girl played on the playground. The wineries all have playgrounds. Its awesome.

Breakdown:
Scenery: It is perfection
The food: eh, it was fine. Not great but fine. But we didnt really come here to eat, right? ;)
The important stuff, the wine:
Chardonnay: eh, it was chardonnay. I dont love chardonnay so I might not be a fair reviewer of this one.
Sauvignon Blanc: Sauvi B is my favorite kind of wine, hands down. And I ADORE SB from New Zealand. In my opinion it is the holy grail of SB. But back to Chile. This one from Casa del Bosque is fantastic. It is the closest to the product of New Zealand that I have found here. Oh you Kiwis are good, but this one is not far behind. It is my go to wine and I have been known to go completely out of my way to get it since it isnt sold at the grocery store close to our apartment. It is light and crisp, slightly fruity and acidic. It is everything a good SB should be. I will miss it when we move back to the States.
Carmenere: I LOVE CARMENERE. It is exquisite. And if you arent familiar with the story of Carmenere go google it. Its a cool story. This one is delicious. It is velvety and smooth. It is full, but in good way. I do not typically like a full bodied red, but this one is awesome. It isnt my favorite Carmenere that I have had since coming here but it is certainly up there.
Cabernet: I thought I liked Cabernet but then I had Carmenere. I can still appreciate a good Cab though. This one is fine, it tastes like any other good quality Cab to me. But they served it slightly chilled in the tasting and I really enjoyed that. This Cab is smooth and slightly sweet. It is light, which I appreciate in a red.
Syrah: I am not a fan of this one, but I dont like any Syrahs really. The way I feel about Syrah is the way I feel about Chardonnay: unnecessary.
They also do make a Merlot, but it wasnt on the tasting menu the day we went. If I go back and they do have it I will report back.

So that is Casa del Bosque. I cant wait to take my mom here when she visits! She is a white wine lover so this one will probably be her favorite as well.

The Chile Experience

I have been humbled. My rose colored glasses were snatched off my American face. I still love Chile, I do, but things are hard here (duh). Things I didnt expect are really hard. Why didnt I expect it be hard? Silly, silly me. I am starting to get frustrated and irritated and lonely. I know this is probably normal for anyone who moves to a country where they dont speak the native tongue or know anyone. But the lack of meaning-full interaction is getting to me. I dont have anyone that I can just sit down with and talk to. I hate that I took for granted all the wonderful, silly conversations I had with my friends in the States. I miss being understood and feeling connected to something. I miss not being exhausted after a 10 minute conversation because I am so focused on what is being said. The language barrier means that I am always one joke behind and a little out of sync with everyone else in the conversation. I am not funny or witty or charming in spanish. I feel like this duller version of myself. I was doing a good job of looking for joy or fun things in unexpected places for our first several months here. But I have hit a wall and have been in this horrible pity party mode for a couple weeks now. And in the process I have been completely humbled.

When we got here I was all sunshine and rainbows. I was smug and thought that I could just waltz into Chile and boom, poof, be ok. Not so fast. I was so arrogant. Oh my goodness. I thought "I am brave and adventurous and I totally got this". Being completely immersed into a new culture and country is hard. OBVIOUSLY. And shame on me for thinking it would be otherwise for me. I only hurt myself. But now with a new attitude and perspective change I am doing better. Isnt it funny what a little perspective can do!? Turns out being embarrassed and feeling dumb everyday can actually be a good thing. I have learned to let go. I am not in control here and all I can do is the best that I can do. And turns out that the States isnt all that. I am really starting to appreciate the pros of The States and the cons, as well as the pros and cons of Chile. I have learned a lot about myself. Turns out being quiet and listening is good. Who knew?? Not this chatterbox. You know I met someone the other day at the playground (an American!) and she is really nice and has a daughter Curly girl's age. Their family has been here for 3 years and her daughter doesnt speak spanish and they mainly only hang out with other gringos (I can use that word since I am one here). And it hit me in that moment I needed to change my perspective and get out my funk before that was me. Dont get me wrong, they are lovely and their children will be wonderful friends for Curly girl, but no. I dont want to look back on my year and think about all the things I missed out on because I was scared or was worried I would feel or look stupid. I dont want Curly girl to not speak spanish (no fear there she already is better than me) and I dont want to have completely missed out on what makes Chile, Chile! I am brave and I can do this. I know that much.  I need to follow my very brave daughter's example. She was really struggling and having a hard time at school and now she is blossoming here. She is speaking spanish and laughing with friends at school. This year will probably be one of my hardest yet. But sometimes the best things and the experiences worth having are hard. I need to remember that everyday. I am proud of us for not choosing what was easy, but instead embracing possibility. 

knock knock who's there

Last week Curly Girl and I had ourselves a little adventure. We got locked INSIDE the apartment. Yes, inside. How you ask? Let me tell you.
We had just gotten home from Jardin (preschool). She was eating her pbj and I was about to take the trash out. I went to open the door and while the handle did indeed move down in the correct motion nothing happened. First thought: did I lock the deadbolt? Frantic search for keys ensues, keys are finally located, dead bolt is not actually locked. hmmmm. OK. I proceeded to mess with the door more and probably made it worse. I texted husband. He does not respond. I attempt to call downstairs to concierge. Oh but thats right, I speak terrible spanish and he cant understand me. hmmmmm. (insert pacing and mild panic). Also let me add that it was 94 that day and my apartment has no AC. It was getting super toasty. I maybe was extra hot because I was sweaty with panic. But it was hot. I texted a friend who is bilingual. She calls the concierge for me and calls me back and says they are sending someone up to look at it. Dude comes up and says "La peurta no se abre?" to which I respond "si" I desperately wanted to say si po which is, like, totally Chilean but figured this was not the time to practice my slang. He knocks (??) then says something I cannot understand and leaves. (INSERT MORE PANIC). I like living on the 14th floor, however, in that moment all I could think was what if there is a fire? Damnit why dont we live on the 2nd floor? Top floor schmop floor.
2 hours later a locksmith shows up. He proceeds to completely remove the entire lock system from my door with a small power tool. (INSERT MORE PANIC).
I internally shouted "Give us us free!" as he opened the door. (Amistad anyone?) Turns out our fancy double deadbolt broke in half, but dont worry the new one is better and that shouldnt happen again. I am reassured....?
take aways:
1. I am terribly glad that Curly Girl was with me.
2. Must get better at speaking the spanish.
3. I am glad there was no fire.

Curly girl barely noticed our captivity.

What I have learned from the playground

We are still learning the playground norms here. But I have a few of them down.

1. Many times, it is the nana or housekeeper that brings the kiddos to the playground. Not mom. So I stick out. Especially because I am usually in a baseball hat-not a thing here.

2. The little boys can do whatever the heck they want. They are doted on and indulged. Little girls, eh. Little boys can be mean, not share, or play nice.  Little girls that dont share get yelled at. Thankfully Curly girl cant understand them when they yell ;)

3. Kids can pee outside in the grass/in the trees at the playground. It is normal, everyone does it. This shocks me. Today Curly girl had to pee. She went in the trees. OMG MORTIFIED MOTHER HERE, but no one else thinks its weird. I do, for the record. But I will try to adapt to my surroundings. I am still paranoid I am going to get a ticket for indecent exposure or something for my child.

4. Toys are a free for all. There is no such thing as "mine" or not sharing. The kids ask to play and the answer is always yes. This I actually really like and I think its a good thing for Curly girl to experience this. In the States it is cool all of the sudden and trendy for kiddos to not share. Its odd. I get it in theory. You should not have to give up a toy if you are not done using it. But what I have observed is that the kids that are not forced to share just hoard the toys are scream " I AM NOT DONE" over and over again so they dont have to let any other kiddo play with anything. This to me, teaches nothing. Again, good idea in theory but in practice I think it doesnt work. Sadly we live in a world with other people and no one likes an asshole. So I like that the Chilean kids just share and take turns with each others stuff. Its refreshing. But it is hard when its time to leave the playground because I dont know how to say 'hey we are leaving, we need our stuff back" ;)

5. The ice cream man comes to the playground. Only he has a cooler with wheels, not a truck. And he just stands there and yells "Helado, helado, helado!" and the kids come a running. Usually with barefeet. All the playgrounds have sand.

6. Helicopter parenting is not a thing here. It is so refreshing. No one hovers. The kids just figure it out.