Chile - Wine Country Part II

Cousiño-Macul cellars, Santiago, Chile

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Santiago has a couple of great wineries accessible by public transport, and I had a few days to kill.  It was a match made in heaven.

Chilean wine is good, and its cheap, which makes it good for people without a lot of money to spend but who like something a step up from Franzia or Yellow Tail.

The two wineries I visited were very different - Cousiño-Macul is a medium-sized winery that has been owned by the same family for over a century.  The site is quaint and the corporate culture has that small-company feel.

Concha y Toro, on the other hand, is Chile´s largest winery and South America´s largest exporter.  The Company´s revenues are nearly a billion dollars and it is publicly traded on the NYSE.  The culture is professional and efficient.

Wines at both places were fantastic.  They have some highly rated wines for $20 or less.  Concha´s Marques de Casa Concha label and Cousiño´s Antiguas Reservas label are both very good.  

Cousiño-Macul cellars, Santiago, Chile.  These big oak fermentation tanks were in use until about a decade ago.

The more modern kind of wine production.  Cousiño-Macul, Chile.

This year´s production in stainless steel tanks.  Cousiño-Macul, Chile.

Cousiño-Macul cellars, Chile.

Cousiño-Macul cellars, Chile.  Most of the company´s wine is aged in another, much larger, facility offsite.

Cousiño-Macul cellars, Chile.

Cousiño-Macul family cellars, Chile.  These old bottles are part of the family´s private wine collection.

Cousiño-Macul.  A 1937 cab on display.

Cousiño-Macul showroom, Santiago, Chile

Cousiño-Macul logo, Chile

Cousiño-Macul´s midrange wine. Retails for about $20 in the states.

Enjoying a little wine tasting at the vineyard.

Some Brazilians being fabulous as they wait for their shuttle after the wine tasting.

Concha y Toro - Chile´s biggest winery.  The restaurant and showroom is located on an estate that used to be the family´s summer home!  Here is the main house / mansion.

Concha y Toro varietal garden, Santiago, Chile

Concha y Toro cellars, Santiago, Chile

Concha y Toro uses a combination of French and American oak barrels... apparently French oak is more expensive.  The barrels cost a few thousand dollars, they use them for a few years, and then re-sell them to other 2nd tier wine producers, or port producers. 

Concha y Toro cellars, Santiago, Chile

Concha y Toro cellars, Santiago, Chile. It gets dark down there!  Like Cousiño-Macul, the company moved its main production facilities far outside of Santiago a long time ago and only a few wines spend time here, to give tourists a sense of what the winery used to be like.

Concha y Toro cellars, Santiago, Chile