Guest Blogger: Andrea meets us in Santiago

Santiago was a special place, not only because Sarah and I would be meeting up again, but also because a close friend of mine from NY, Andrea, would be meeting us there for a week! My uncle is in the wine business and had put us in contact with a close friend of his, Pablo, who lives in Santiago and owns a vineyard about 3 hours south of the city. While we were in Santiago, Pablo took excellent care of us, constantly checking in to see if we needed anything and recommending places for us to see and of course, wines for us to taste...
Without further ado, here´s Andrea with a guest blog entry on Santiago, Chile:

Our first night in Santiago, we went to a college soccer game with a few guys from the hostel. It was so much fun! "Hinchada Hay Una Sola" The fans were PASSIONATE about their team! I thought Penn Staters were passionate about football, but this was a whole new level of intensity!

The next few days we were planning to do some wine tasting... The challenge was trying to taste as much as we could on a tight budget. Sadly, my tasting notes never made it to paper... and were a bit of a drunken blur by the end of the day, so I don't have much to offer in tasting notes.

Colchagua Valley, located three hours south of Santiago, is known for their Bordeaux reds. I wanted to visit Casa LaPostolle, but the tasting was too steep for our budget. Instead, we went to Viu on Pablo´s recommendation. The tour started with a lovely horse ride through the beautiful vineyards. With the cool, crisp fall air, we really enjoyed their warm tasting room that was heated by a wood burning stove. Our favorite wine was their Malbec Reserve. When our taxi driver picked us up, he was hosting a radio show (while driving us)! It was entertaining listening to him speak in the car and then hearing him on radio... We stopped at Estampa, and drank a bottle of their Malbec and Petit Syrah blend. It was delicious for the price! Finally, we made it to the last winery of the day, Bisquertt. Mary and Sarah loved the beautiful house filled with antique furniture and family pictures. Our favorite wine was the Casa La Joya 2007 Reserve, Carmenier. On the bus ride back to Santiago, the cute guy next to me starting talking to me. He didn't speak any English, and I don't speak Spanish. It was a funny conversation, and we all laughed. After a day of wine tasting, we were happy :)
The next day we went to Valparaiso, a cute, artsy tourist town two hours NW of Santiago. The town is located on steep hills by the sea... it felt a little strange... the streets were filled with dogs and graffiti... and everything was expensive. Some jewelry and clothing had 5th ave price tags! From Valparaiso, there was only one company that offered tours of Casablanca Valley, and they were rude and corrupt. Casablanca Valley is known for their white wines. Our tour started at Viña Mar. Sarah asked me about the strange looking riddling racks. So I explained how champagne was made, and the guide asked me to lead the rest of the tour in English! I really enjoyed Viña Mar's Sauvignon Blanc. citrius.. lemon... a fair amount of acidity.. muy bien! Next we stopped at Indomita. Their sommelier let me have a taste of the reserve chardonnay 2007, which was delicious, but the girls wanted to drink more Sauvignon Blanc. After the vineyards, we went had empanadas and went to the beach... what a great way to end the day :)
On my last night in Santiago, we cooked brinner (aka. breakfast for dinner), an old ritual we did often in NY. We started off with a bottle of Morande Sauvignon Blanc, and then opened up a cheap bottle of bubbly wine... and enjoyed huevos y queso. mmm!