The Long Drive Home

February 24, 2010
Wednesday
The time has come to put the bike away until next year. This is always hard to do because the riding here in Chile is so spectacular and here in Santiago you hardly ever have to think about rain gear. But, all good things come to an end and tonight I will be on a Boeing 767 headed back to the good old USA, and the cold of western New York. As a coming home present, the weather man has found nothing better than to forecast heavy snow and 61 mph winds gusts for the Buffalo, New York area just about the time I was to land there, so…. I’m getting off in Boston and driving home. I’ve never landed in driving snow and 61 mile an hour winds before, and I don’t want to start now! The six hour layover in Boston had something to do with my decision too! Hey….see ya all at home!

An Afternoon In Wine Coutry

Main house and summer home of Don Melchor Concha y Toro

Our Guide

Barrels full of wine

Aging cellars

Cabernet Sauvignon vines

Yes, you can take it with you!

February 21
Sunday
Wandering around Santiago on the bike with no real destination, I remembered that last year I rode by the Concha y Toro vineyards on the outskirts of Santiago. Concha y Toro is the largest winery in Chile and the 10th largest in the world as well as being the largest wine producer in Latin America. It was established in 1883 by Don Melchor Concha y Toro and his father-in-law, Don Ramón Subercaseaux Mercado. This sounded like a good place to spend the afternoon, so I headed south toward the Maipo river and over to Concha y Toro vineyards. Arriving at the main gate, I was greeted by a beautifully maintained gated entrance manned by two security guards. I asked where I could go to take the tour, and they advised me and allowed me thru the gates. Once on the property it was evident that this is a very large operation that spends a great deal of money in the upkeep of their property. The grounds where impeccably maintained and the buildings where very attractive with their Spanish styling. Once I had my pass for the tour, I went into the main building where the tours originate. The tours are given in English or Spanish. In the main building is a restaurant open to the public, a small room where you watch an informative video of the history of Concha y Toro before starting the tour, and a very nice store where you can buy wines and souvenirs. After watching the video our group, which consisted of myself and another couple, was escorted out into the main square, by our tour guide, where one can sit and enjoy the sunshine and maybe a bottle of wine. Continuing on we headed to the main house that was once the summer home of Don Melchor Concha y Toro and has now been converted to offices and event center. The gardens surrounding the main house where of French design and as would be expected, meticulously maintained. Next, we went to the nearby vineyards where the grapes of the Cabernet Sauvignon are grown. Our guide explained that although most vines will produce grapes for about a hundred years or so, Conch y Toro replaces it’s vines after forty years to maintain the high quality of its wine. Another interesting fact was that while other wine producing countries have to worry about insects that attack the vines, Chile is in a rather unique position. Since Chile is bordered by the Atacama Desert to the north, the Andes Mountains to the east, the Antarctic to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west, Chile has almost no native insects that threaten the wine industry. This is one reason that the Customs agents are so careful to screen for any fruits, vegetables or other contaminants that could enter the country.
Next we where, escorted by a guard, to the buildings housing the wine barrels that where aging in the cellars. There were thousands of barrels of wine in the cellars aging and waiting to fill the bottles that would be exported to all corners of the globe. Each barrel holds enough wine to fill 300 bottles. After touring the new wine cellars as well as the original, it was off to the good stuff, the wine tasting. In a special room with wonderful mood lighting and beautiful old handmade Spanish furniture, we sampled both the white wine as well as the red that Concha Y Toro is so famous for. The nice surprise was that we were invited to keep the wine glasses with the Concha y Toro name etched in the glass. A very nice touch and a wonderful tour.
Key Dates:
1883: Concha y Toro establishes its first vineyard and winery.
1965: Company introduces its first premium wine, Casillero del Diablo.
1987: Concha y Toro introduces Don Melchor, its most ambitious wine yet.
1994: Concha y Toro makes its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.
1998: Company ranks second among wine exporters to the United States.

February 14
Sunday
I finally managed to contact my friend Guillermo Troncoso, who was responsible for recuing me front the Atacama Desert last month, and he invited me to his home in Rancagua, south of Santiago. The plan was to go from his home to the seaside town of Pichilemu for the day, so I got on the bike and in a little over an hour I was at his house. Guillermo, his wife Veronica and the kids Florencia and Luciano loaded up in the pickup truck and I followed on my bike as we headed to the Pacific Ocean for the day. On the way, we stopped at a little restaurant where they make old style Empanadas in real mud ovens. I’ve had a lot of Empanadas in my time, but nothing like these. The ovens give the Empanadas a whole different texture and I think they cook better that way as well. That must be the reason that this place is packed to capacity and they are only open on Sat, Sun and holidays. After the beer and Empanadas we continued thru some very picturesque countryside full of hills, winding road and wineries on all sides. Very pretty! Arriving in Pichilemu it was obvious that this is a very popular place, the town and the seashore was packed with people. It’s a popular surfing beach where in the winter they hold national surfing competitions. Arriving in Pichilemu we headed to the beach house of Veronica’s Mother’s friend, where I was welcomed as one of the family, as usual. I was invited to have lunch with all the family and friends, and afterwards Guillermo and his immediate family took me to see the sights along the seashore, this time though, the bike was not in the back of the pickup! Pichilemu has a beautiful beach that stretches for miles before becoming very rocky and with high cliffs. From up on the cliffs there is a fantastic view of the entire area, where you can watch the surfers descend the cliffs to reach the best waves. As we where watching the waves, Guillermo pointed out what he thought was a surfer in the waves down below, but as I watched, the “surfer” never resurfaced. It was no surfer, it was some other large animal of the sea. Who knows what? All I know is after seeing that, I think I would stay onshore. It was pretty good size! After watching the sun set over the Pacific, we headed back to the beach house before the entire group went out to eat at a local seafood restaurant that Guillermo likes. This is where I was able to properly thank Guillermo for recuing me, by allowing me to pay for everyone’s meal. After dinner Guillermo and Veronica and the kids took off in the pickup and I jumped on my bike and we headed back home, it was 11:00pm and by the time I arrived in Santiago it was 2:30am. This has to have been the nicest day of my entire trip!

Asado a la Chilena

February 12
Friday
Tomorrow, Saturday Feb. 13, I will be heading back to the capital city of Santiago, and as a going away surprise, Eduardo my good friend and my Aunt’s driver, put on a very nice cookout Chilean style out in the garden of the main house. Here no cookout is complete without some nice steaks, salads and some very good Chilean wine. We enjoyed a great meal until we couldn’t see any more. No, not because of the wine, but because we continued until way after dark. Gracias Eduardo!

Back In Chufquen

February 6, 2010
Saturday
I have been back at my Aunt’s ranch for a couple of days now and not much has gone on lately as far as motorcycle rides are concerned. I do have a family crisis back in the States. Hopefully all will be well there, but there is the chance I may have to cut this trip short and return home early. Let’s hope all goes well.

Bariloche, Argentina

Town square in Bariloche

Just some of the knives

The view from my room

February 3, 2010
Wednesday
I'm in San Carlos De Bariloche, Argentina at the moment having breakfast and plan to do some shopping in this tourist town where they have many beautiful hand made things from here in Argentina. It’s quite cold, windy and overcast at the moment which isn’t too conducive to shopping outdoors. Last night while I was at my favorite restaurant, enjoying a great steak dinner, here in Bariloche, I noticed a sign on the window advertising a concert on Thursday night of my favorite Spanish singer, Julio Iglesias, so I think I’m going to see if I can get a ticket for the concert.
UPDATE: Julio is all sold out! Oh well. Turned out to be a pretty nice day even though very windy. Did a bunch of shopping and bought a bunch of beautiful handmade knived with all kinds of exotic handles, even one set for cooking steak, a knife and fork set hand made of German Stainless and with a sheath to store them both.

Tunel Las Raices

Tunnel entrance

Area map

Inside the tunnel

January 31, 2010
Sunday
This morning I was up at the crack of 10:00 o’clock and decided to take a bike ride to a place I’ve been to before, but not on the bike. I’m talking about the “Tunel Las Raices”, that is about two to two and a half hours away from the Farm by bike. The sky dawned clear as a bell yet it was just a little cool at ten in the morning, so I put on the jacket and gloves and headed out. When I reached the town of Victoria, I stopped for gas since I only had half a tank and I like to fill it up whenever it reaches half empty because you never know when you’ll be in an area that has no gas stations and you’ll run low on fuel. Continuing toward the tunnel you come to the town of Curacautin, but there is no real reason to stop there and I drove right thru. Between Curacautin and the Tunnel there are a few stretches of very tight turns and you have to be very careful in these areas. It’s also very scenic in that stretch of the trip, as you drive on you can see quite a few volcanoes in the distance. As I reached the tunnel, I expected to have to pay before I entered, but I was told by a person there that now you had to pay at the other end. It wasn’t long before the barrier went up and the vehicles were allowed to enter the tunnel. It’s been quite a few years since I last drove thru the tunnel, and back then it was just gravel placed over the railroad tracks because this used to be a railroad tunnel that was converted to a tunnel for vehicles to use. I was very pleasantly surprised, as I entered the tunnel, to find that it has now been completely paved and lighted as well. In the early days it was an experience to drive thru the tunnel with water raining down thru the rocks inside and no lighting what so ever. This tunnel is nearly three miles long and only wide enough for one way traffic, as it is only 11.5 feet wide at its widest point and the width of the road is less than that. On the other side of the tunnel there is a very scenic valley with a mountain at one end that is perpetually covered with deep snow. It makes for a very nice place to take pictures, and that’s exactly what I did before heading back thru the tunnel and back to the Ranch. Total time was about five hours.

Life At The Ranch

Main entrance

Dining room

January 30, 2010
Saturday
Since being at the ranch in Chufquen, I’ve eased into the routine here. The atmosphere at meal time is very formal. When it comes to meal time, we sit down in the large formal dining room, the table set with real silverware in the way of a five star restaurant. Knives and forks for the Entre, others for the main dish and yet others for desert. Glass for wine, others for water or other beverage. My Aunt has a full time cook that has worked for her for more than forty years. Elena (Nena as we call her) has worked here almost a life time, and is the best cook I’ve ever met, she’s more like one of the family. She would have no problem being top chef in any top restaurant in the world. Once at the table, you are waited on by the housekeeper, Rodrigo, who serves all the meals, sometimes in formal white jacket. It’s just something you have to get used to when you’re here; it’s always been this way. Kinda like home, right Sharon?
The rest of the day is one of finding something to keep you entertained. Since we are far from any city or town, you don’t just jump on the bike and head to the mall. You take walks around the main house or you go down to watch the workers unload the wheat in the warehouses, since this is harvest time and the busiest time of the year. We have WiFi here, but I find that my little Netbook will not pick up a signal up here at the main house. I have to go to the office 500 feet away to log on. The computer though is a good thing to have to pass the time processing pictures or writing my blog in Word and later uploading it to the Internet.