Tuesday 22nd August – San Carlos cultural day
As part of this trip, we had a cultural day planned for the group. I’d looked at the weather forecast and decided that this would probably be a bad day to be on the mountain given it was the start of the storm and the winds were due to be really high, so the skiing probably wouldn’t have been much fun. At 10am we were picked up a nice spacious VW minivan and then driven down past Chillan and onto the Santa Berta winery. It was about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the winery and it was raining hard on the way down. That would mean big snow hitting Nevados. It was really cold down valley too, I was underdressed for the day (should have taken the puffy jacket!), but that was my fault. Whoops.
Susana, the marketing lady from last year, was there to meet us. She showed us around the complex, starting with a behind the scenes look at the large shed with the wine vats in it and then to the outside crushing plant. Then we went to the lovely church and then into the best bit, the cellar. They have done an amazing job of the cellar/tasting room; it’s dark and atmospheric, full of wine barrels and with several bottles of wine on display with spotlights on them. Susana picked out three bottles for us to try, one white and two reds. I forget what the white was (maybe a Muscatel?) but the two reds were a Pinot Noir and a Merlot. The white was nice, very cold and nice and fruity, not too dry and both the reds were nice too. Both were pretty easy to drink and had a pretty mellow finish (not trying to sound like a wine snob here, I don’t drink much wine, I like beer myself, but I did like all three wines). They also had a really nice cheese platter with lots of different Chilean cheeses on it and dried fruits. I do have a weakness for cheese so I made sure I properly investigated all possible cheese and wine combinations. My research was very thorough……
After that we went to the shop and I bought 3 bottles; the merlot, the pinot noir and a rose. I’m not sure what I will do with them; I will probably give them to people in Nevados as a thank you present as I don’t want to travel with wine. Everyone bought a few bottles (except for Gordon who doesn’t drink) and we said thank you to Susana and then headed off to San Carlos for the meal. I was already pretty full from my cheeses sampling, but we knew there would no doubt be more food to come. We stopped in the main part of San Carlos and were taken into a butchers. I thought that was a little strange but then I saw David, the owner of Violeta, the restaurant we were going to, inside. This was the butchers that he bought all his meats from, so that made sense. David gave us a very warm welcome (he had a local lady there to translate for us, which was nice) and then he of course had some of his choice meats for us to try. More snacks! Then it was off to the restaurant.
It was only about a 5 minute drive. David’s restaurant (Violeta) is close to the flour factory his family owns and is a working class neighborhood. David was a chef all over Europe before coming home to Chile and starting up his restaurant in San Carlos. San Carlos has a growing arts scene and he wanted to bring good food to the area and create his own slice of culinary art. His restaurant is an old rustic building (partially destroyed in the earthquake of 2010 and now almost fully renovated) and is very charming.
We had a lovely 4 course meal, with an empanada (beef, egg and olive, very tasty), then a nice vegetable soup, then the main course of bbq’d beef and sausage slow cooked in his 100 year old oven. We had a desert as well, but I didn’t eat it as I was in a food coma by this stage. We also had pisco sour (strong, pisco and sour lemon drink, very popular locally), fresh strawberry juice (very good) and more wine. What a banquet! Everyone was very full and happy. We left Violetta and a warm goodbye from our hosts to go into Chillan to go to the market. Originally we were supposed to go truffle hunting but as it was pouring with rain, we pulled the plug on that. The market had some fun stuff, mostly Chilean handicrafts and a lot of nice gaucho style clothing, with panchos, hats and riding wear. Jacques bought a nice pancho and posed for some sweet photos in a bunch of Chilean gear. He looked quite the part. Then it was time to drive back to the mountain. It was snowing hard and we needed chains (which the driver had to go rent) and by the time he had that figured out, we were back pretty late. This was another nice day and a well-earned rest from skiing.
The wine lab!
Where all the wine is stored. Those are some big tanks!
The old cobblestone courtyard of the former monastery makes a great backdrop for a winery.
Checking out the restored carriages.
Inside the chapel.
The atmospheric wine tasting room.
A couple of the different reds.
Turns out it works quite well as a cheese tasting room too! Who knew......
Science! Tasting wine AND cheese is a detailed process...... thankfully we were all dedicated to the task at hand!
Salut!
Might have to buy a couple of bottles, especially when they are only a few dollars each!
Meat tasting science..... the diligent work continues in San Carlos.
This is where David, the owner of Violeta's, does his shopping.
Empanadas, these were really good.
Pisco sours, a popular local drink. A little too strong for me. The strawberry/raspberry juice was more to my liking.
BBQ time! Beef, sausage and potatoes, fish for Gavin.
Our awesome chefs!
Violeta in San Carlos. Definitely away from the tourist trail here.....
The cathedral in Chillan.
The markets in Chillan.
Jacques, el Guacho! (cowboy).
Plenty of fresh snow was waiting for us back in Las Trancas.
- Matt
As part of this trip, we had a cultural day planned for the group. I’d looked at the weather forecast and decided that this would probably be a bad day to be on the mountain given it was the start of the storm and the winds were due to be really high, so the skiing probably wouldn’t have been much fun. At 10am we were picked up a nice spacious VW minivan and then driven down past Chillan and onto the Santa Berta winery. It was about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the winery and it was raining hard on the way down. That would mean big snow hitting Nevados. It was really cold down valley too, I was underdressed for the day (should have taken the puffy jacket!), but that was my fault. Whoops.
Susana, the marketing lady from last year, was there to meet us. She showed us around the complex, starting with a behind the scenes look at the large shed with the wine vats in it and then to the outside crushing plant. Then we went to the lovely church and then into the best bit, the cellar. They have done an amazing job of the cellar/tasting room; it’s dark and atmospheric, full of wine barrels and with several bottles of wine on display with spotlights on them. Susana picked out three bottles for us to try, one white and two reds. I forget what the white was (maybe a Muscatel?) but the two reds were a Pinot Noir and a Merlot. The white was nice, very cold and nice and fruity, not too dry and both the reds were nice too. Both were pretty easy to drink and had a pretty mellow finish (not trying to sound like a wine snob here, I don’t drink much wine, I like beer myself, but I did like all three wines). They also had a really nice cheese platter with lots of different Chilean cheeses on it and dried fruits. I do have a weakness for cheese so I made sure I properly investigated all possible cheese and wine combinations. My research was very thorough……
After that we went to the shop and I bought 3 bottles; the merlot, the pinot noir and a rose. I’m not sure what I will do with them; I will probably give them to people in Nevados as a thank you present as I don’t want to travel with wine. Everyone bought a few bottles (except for Gordon who doesn’t drink) and we said thank you to Susana and then headed off to San Carlos for the meal. I was already pretty full from my cheeses sampling, but we knew there would no doubt be more food to come. We stopped in the main part of San Carlos and were taken into a butchers. I thought that was a little strange but then I saw David, the owner of Violeta, the restaurant we were going to, inside. This was the butchers that he bought all his meats from, so that made sense. David gave us a very warm welcome (he had a local lady there to translate for us, which was nice) and then he of course had some of his choice meats for us to try. More snacks! Then it was off to the restaurant.
It was only about a 5 minute drive. David’s restaurant (Violeta) is close to the flour factory his family owns and is a working class neighborhood. David was a chef all over Europe before coming home to Chile and starting up his restaurant in San Carlos. San Carlos has a growing arts scene and he wanted to bring good food to the area and create his own slice of culinary art. His restaurant is an old rustic building (partially destroyed in the earthquake of 2010 and now almost fully renovated) and is very charming.
We had a lovely 4 course meal, with an empanada (beef, egg and olive, very tasty), then a nice vegetable soup, then the main course of bbq’d beef and sausage slow cooked in his 100 year old oven. We had a desert as well, but I didn’t eat it as I was in a food coma by this stage. We also had pisco sour (strong, pisco and sour lemon drink, very popular locally), fresh strawberry juice (very good) and more wine. What a banquet! Everyone was very full and happy. We left Violetta and a warm goodbye from our hosts to go into Chillan to go to the market. Originally we were supposed to go truffle hunting but as it was pouring with rain, we pulled the plug on that. The market had some fun stuff, mostly Chilean handicrafts and a lot of nice gaucho style clothing, with panchos, hats and riding wear. Jacques bought a nice pancho and posed for some sweet photos in a bunch of Chilean gear. He looked quite the part. Then it was time to drive back to the mountain. It was snowing hard and we needed chains (which the driver had to go rent) and by the time he had that figured out, we were back pretty late. This was another nice day and a well-earned rest from skiing.
The wine lab!
Where all the wine is stored. Those are some big tanks!
The old cobblestone courtyard of the former monastery makes a great backdrop for a winery.
Checking out the restored carriages.
Inside the chapel.
The atmospheric wine tasting room.
A couple of the different reds.
Turns out it works quite well as a cheese tasting room too! Who knew......
Science! Tasting wine AND cheese is a detailed process...... thankfully we were all dedicated to the task at hand!
Salut!
Might have to buy a couple of bottles, especially when they are only a few dollars each!
Meat tasting science..... the diligent work continues in San Carlos.
This is where David, the owner of Violeta's, does his shopping.
Empanadas, these were really good.
Pisco sours, a popular local drink. A little too strong for me. The strawberry/raspberry juice was more to my liking.
BBQ time! Beef, sausage and potatoes, fish for Gavin.
Our awesome chefs!
Violeta in San Carlos. Definitely away from the tourist trail here.....
The cathedral in Chillan.
The markets in Chillan.
Jacques, el Guacho! (cowboy).
Plenty of fresh snow was waiting for us back in Las Trancas.
- Matt