South America In Style: Santiago, Chile

On Tuesday morning, we embarked on an eight hour bus trip from Mendoza to Santiago. I’m normally not a bus person, but I can’t emphasise enough how fabulous was this bus trip. At the Mendoza Bus Depot, we were very pleasantly surprised by our first class, double decker Andesmar bus. Inside the bus, awaited two massive and reclining leather seats for Nige and I complete with foot rests, personal cabins, temperature control panels, television with a selection of DVDs, toilet, pillows, blankets along with lunch and afternoon tea service. This was the bus equivalent to Business Class on a plane. Nothing however, prepared us for the spectacular view of, and drive through, the Andes. One minute we were in the dessert, and the next we were in the snow. All I can say is that we took about 300 pictures of scenery that tells 300,000 words.

When we arrived in Santiago, we were greeted by our Personal Guide Haime. All I can say is that the South American tourism industry is booming with very attractive representatives. On the drive to our Hotel Orly, Haime gave us the heads up that Santiago, population 7 million, is renowned for its food and wine (in particular, seafood such as salmon and king crab, and wineries such as Concha Y Toro), shopping and having lunch in Downtown are must dos and that the mantra in Chile is that “one must work like a black man to live like a white man”. During our time in Santiago, we certainly took up Haime’s advice of experiencing fine dining, a winery tour and the hustle and bustle of Downtown, but gave the hard work part a miss!

On Tuesday evening, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at our hotel restaurant located on Pedro de Valdivia, one of the tree lined and fine dining strips of Santiago and can be likened to Toorak Road in Prahran. We observed at dinner that the obligatory bread baskets are served with meals at restaurants in Santiago, just like they are in Mendoza. One slight difference however is that the bread is served warm in Santiago rather than cold as in Mendoza. Also, just as they do in Mendoza, dogs (owned and stray) roam freely through the streets of Santiago and can be seen at most street corners guarding their territories.

Following a beautiful buffet breakfast at our hotel on Wednesday morning, we spent the day taking the subway and walking around metropolitan and cosmopolitan Santiago. Highlights include taking a furnicular to the top of the Cristobal hilltop, home of the giant Virgin Mary statue, and admiring the views and serenity; experiencing the Brunswick Street (Melbourne) like ‘bohemian’ strip of Santiago which is full of poets, artists, graffiti artwork, cafes, students and a university; and buying a handbag in the Downtown shopping precinct. I must make special mention of the phenomenal lunch we had whilst Downtown at Casa Lastarria located in Degraves Street (Melbourne) like Lastarria. For about AUD$12.00, I had the shrimp and crab chupe, a creamy shrimp and crab stew served with mozzarella, parmesan biscuits and chips. For almost the same amount, Nige had the sauvignon blanc chicken, which was served with fries, worcesterschire sauce and sautéed onions. Nige rated his dish a 9.5 (where he doesn’t ordinarily score dishes higher than an 8), and we both agree that this high quality of cuisine can’t be found in Melbourne for this price.

After about eight hours of walking, we enjoyed a well-deserved dinner at Del Cocinero Bistro on Pedro de Valdivia, arguably our best culinary experience to date in South America both cuisine and service wise. We learnt here from our fabulous Waiter Pablo, that the Latin Spanish word for ‘menu’ in Chile is ‘carte’ as opposed to ‘menu’ in Argentina. I’m not lost for words much, but words can’t describe how amazing was the food here. My entree, for about AUD$8.00, was a scramble of Ecuadorian shrimps, which is shrimps cooked in butter and garlic and mixed with scrambled eggs, paprika and coriander. My main, for about AUD$16.00, was charlotte d’agneau aux aubergines or lamb charlotte with honey, basil and herbs from the countryside wrapped in thin slices of eggplant. Finally for dessert priced at around AUD$4.00, was suspira limeno, a Peruvian dessert made with condensed and evaporated milk, egg yolk and almond essence. Each course was simply divine, infused with bags of flavour, clearly made with love and perfectly matched with a William Cole Mirador Pinot Noir.

On Thursday, still on a high from the winery tours in Mendoza (and dinner at Del Cocinero Bistro), Nige and I were like two kids on Christmas morning as we anticipated our Turistour full day winery tour of the Maipa region. Led by the lovely Guide Teskia and Bus Driver Oscar and accompanied by our fellow winery tourists comprising an American couple from our hotel, a Brazilian and Mexican couple, we embarked on the scenic drive to wineries Vina Undurraga and Concha Y Toro and lunch destination Turistico La Vaquita Echo.

Vina Undurraga, a medium sized winery named after the surname of its founders, has been established on history and tradition. Led by a knowledgeable and funny guide who continually made friendly jokes about Argentinian wines, we learnt that the wine shop once housed the winery workers; inspired by colonial Spanish architecture, the premises was built using clay and “muscelerus” (muscles); the winery itself is inspired by Inca statues “machapus” representing energy of the earth and “lamachis” referring to talking with the Gods; Chilean wineries are using thinner bottles in a move to become more environmentally responsible; the Cabernet Sauvignon vines are the oldest at Vina Undurraga, being 80 years of age; and Chile produces 90 per cent of the Carmenere varietal worldwide. It’s a busy time for Chilean wineries with Chile’s independence celebrations on 18 September. With the celebrations of course, comes increased wine consumption, in particular of a festive drink called “chicha” that is produced and consumed especially for the independence festivities. In an outdoors tasting, we had the pleasure of trying four Vina Undurraga wines: Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (crisp and minerally on the palate with deceiving tropical fruit aromas); Reserve Blend (a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes producing a light, dry and tannic yet easy to drink wine with blackberry aromas); Carmenere 2010 (an acidic and chalky wine with a wonderful ruby colour); and Late Harvest 2010 (produced with the grapes picked later in the harvesting process, a sweet wine with honey aromas). We left Vina Undurraga with a bottle each of the Reserve Blend and Late Harvest 2010.

A fabulous interlude to the winery tour was a two hour authentic Chilean lunch at Turistico La Vaquita Echo, complete with red and white checked tablecloths, guitarists, traditional dancers and a phenomenal Andes backdrop. For about AUD$3.00, I had an entrée of Chilean signature Empanada de Camaron, a lovely pastry filled with shrimp and cheese. The main event however, for about AUD$40.00 (for two), was the literally sizzling Carte en Parrilla (a barbeque of loin, fillet, spare ribs, sausages and potatoes).

After a decadent lunch, a long walk around the vast Concha Y Toro winery grounds couldn’t have come at a better time. With a blend of colonial Chile and Italian architecture and an English garden including a man-made lake, the views were simply breathtaking. Our very entertaining Guide informed us that the vines are kept for no more than 50 years as opposed to the maximum 150 years. While the quality of wine improves with age, the quantity decreases. As Concha Y Toro is a commercial winery, exporting about 28 million cases per year, they must strike a balance between quality and quantity. 80 per cent of the vines are 40 years old and the main wine produced is Cabernet Sauvignon. While tasting rooms seem to be features in Argentinian wineries, Chilean wineries seem to conduct outdoor tastings. As such, we had the opportunity to experience an outdoor tasting of the Casillero del Diablo Carmenere 2010 (dry and oaked with a musky flavour on the palate, producing stewed fruit aromas and matching well with Italian food, white meats and fish). After the tasting, we ventured into the ageing cellar which has one of the most sophisticated temperature and condition control systems I’ve ever seen. They use both French and American oak barrels which are each worth between US$800.00 and US$1400.00. Rumour has it that the main cellar, built in the 1800s, using “calicato” or cement, egg white, sandstone and sand, has a devil in it hence the brand name “Casillero del Diablo”. To create the devil effect, we were locked in the cellar with the lights lowered and voices playing in the background! The tour concluded with a final tasting of the premium US$120.00 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 1988 (smooth with port flavours on the palate with plum aromas and complementing red meats, spicy food and chocolate). We enjoyed this wine with the American couple in the outdoor wine bar area whilst watching a traditional Chilean dance performance. We acquired a bottle of the Casillero del Diablo Carmenere 2010 here.

What I liked in particular about this tour was the leisurely pace of the drive, the winery tours and the lunch which made it feel like an experience rather than a school excursion.

Highlights of Santiago include:

The luxury bus trip from Mendoza to Santiago and the views of the Andes;
The location of our Hotel Orly on tree lined street Pedro de Valdivia that can be liked to Toorak Road in Prahran;
The views from, and serenity of, Cristobal Hilltop;
The shopping potential in the Downtown precinct;
The high quality of the local cuisine as evidenced by lunch at Casa Lastarria and dinner at Del Cocinero Bistro;
The high quality of Chilean wines as experienced during our winery tour of the Maipa region; and
The cosmopolitan culture of Santiago yet the friendliness of the local people.