Valparaiso was unknown to us. It is basically the port city closest to Santiago. Before 1914 it was the biggest port. At that time that was the only way to connect the Atlantic to Pacific for trade. After 1914 the Panama Canal became the safest, shortest and easiest way.
Santiago and Valparaiso are both big cities. Valparaiso is the smaller at 2 million and Santiago 8 million. Together their populations equal half of the population of the country of Chile.
From 1973-1990 they were a dictatorship. Then in 1990 the government was overthrown and they are now a democracy. They voted for new governors today and their voting is also compulsory like the other cities that we have been to in South America.
Instead of touring the city we went about 30 minutes away to see two vineyards in Casablanca.
The city was really rustic and looked similar to a big Mexico city, but after dropping into the valley it was beautiful.
Unbelievably, this vineyard began in 1993, it looks like it has been there much longer. The buildings and landscape are pristine. It covers a total of 2,000 hectares and it produces 1.5 million bottles a year. The vineyards are irrigated, they do not get much rain in this low land area of Chile. They export mainly to Brazil, the USA and the UK. They sell very little to their own country, Chileans like beer and many just like marijuana.
This vineyard uses wooden barrels, stainless steel and concrete for its blending and aging.
The second vineyard was only 10 minutes away. Casa Valle is a much smaller place, just 93 hectares. They are trying to become an organic vineyard like Casa del Bosque.
This vineyard only makes sparkling wines. Many levels of sugars are added and blended to make these sparkling wines. I believe we tried at least 8 of these.
We had a roast beef (marinaded in wine) dinner on the upstairs terrace shown in the photo above.
Both vineyards are used for special events, including weddings.
Tomorrow we disembark and make our way to Peru.
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