Destination of the Week

Chile

What if you knew two of the best-kept secrets in travel . . . would you tell anyone?   Well we're spilling the beans and empanadas.   Chile features some of the most beautiful countryside anywhere...and some really great wines.   In fact, when you get to Santiago, you can make a quick jump south to the Conchagua Valley for both the beauty and the wine.

Chile is an amazing country.   While it extends over 2700 miles north to south, it's never over 150 miles wide.   The major reason for the shape, of course, is the Andes mountain range which forms almost all of the eastern border of the country.   If you think about wine, wine country, and terroir, you realize that hills and mountain ranges create many of the conditions for good wine growing.   It's definitely true here.  

But don't think that it stops there.   There's more to Chile than a "western slope" leading to the Pacific.   There's the Atacama Desert which'll give the central Sahara a run for its money and over fifty active volcanoes not to mention Cape Horn at the very south, across the Strait of Magellan with Patagonia and the gorgeous Futaleufu river valley a bit north.  

After Santiago, the Wine Country, and Patagonia, there are a number of great destinations to put on your list . . . Valparaiso is the closest.   It's a beach resort about an hour away.   Cobblestone streets and cliffs that overlook the water add to its rustic beauty.   Following Valparaiso, add La Serrena, another beach city replete with museums and some small vineyards.

Also on the list should be the   Parque Nacional Puyehue - flora and fauna set against a volcanic background.   Another candidate:   Puerto Montt.   A European settlement from the middle 1800's, it offers the European architecture and design.   In addition, it's the jumping off point for reaching Patagonia.   Finally, closely, is Angelmo and the island of Tenglo where you can really veg out.

Not enough?   There's the lake district south of the Biobio River where Incas and Mapuche Indians lived in the 15 th and 16 th centuries.   Besides the land, there are 12 major lakes joined by waterways, rivers and streams.   It's also home to six volcanoes.

And still not enough?   Easter Island.   It's not a day trip, being 2,300 miles off the west coast, but it is Chile and offers some great historical conundrums.   The island's native name is Rapa Nui.   It's Polynesian.   Yet there is evidence of South American tribes also inhabiting the island in ancient times.   Given that Easter Island is about as isolated as you can get, it has provided scholars and anthropologists with plenty of fodder for figuring the how's and why's of the island's discovery and inhabitation.

One of the great mysteries is - or are - the moai, the large figures sculpted from rock and often standing in rows across the countryside.   In history, no one has been found who could explain how these monoliths - some as tall as 60 feet - were constructed or transported.   The rongo rongo tablets also remain undecipered.   Rapa Nui National Park is home of most of the archaeological digs and sites.   It makes a trip to the island worth the effort.

OK.   There's still more.   If you're interested in history, besides Easter Island, there is history across the land in the exploration of the may tribes that shared or fought over the land.   There were the Incas, Diaguita, and Aymara as well as the Mapuche mentioned above.   Sadly, their bodies didn't know many of the European diseases and many of them succumbed to infection, having no natural resistance.

And if history isn't your bag, maybe culture is.   You might think Chile lived in isolation but there has been considerable influence over the country's thinking, art, theater and music by Europe, especially France due to the Parisian education of many of the leading artists and thinkers.   The art museums are worth the effort as are musical performances.   You'll find them more European than you'd imagine but still maintaining the Latin and/or Indian styles and motifs of the country's past.

Then food and wine are everyone's bag.   In Chile, the first thing you'll find is lomo a lo pobre - beef topped with eggs and served with chips.   It's a big meal and great with one of Chile's big cabernets.   From there, you'll want to try the empanadas and some Curanto, a mixed stew of fish, chicken, lamb, beef, shellfish and even pork and potatoes.   On the simpler side are asados and paila.   The seafood is top notch. Clams and mussels, oysters and scallops all are delicious.   The same is true for salmon and, of course, sea bass, which makes its way to the US but, for obvious reasons, is better in Chile.

If Exercise is what you're after, it's all here.   There's rafting, swimming, diving, kayaking, fishing, mountain climbing, mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing, and, of course, biking and running.   In fact, just about anything else is there, too.

Don't forget the wine tasting.   Both the Conchagua Valley and the Maule Valley farther south offer the beauty of the countryside, the weather and the wines for your enjoyment.   As we've said over and over on The Wine Experience, and, no doubt, you've read elsewhere, the wines often are no less than spectacular.   Maybe it's the 400 years' history.   Possibly it's the fact that the rootstock that was imported from France was just before the European phylloxera epidemic and many of those same roots exist today, unharmed.   It could be just the care that today's Chilean vintners   and their blending bring to the process.  Whatever the reason, you'll enjoy just about any of the bottles you'll find.   Remember . . . only two bottles per person coming back through customs . . . but don't worry - there are some great Chilean wines waiting when you get home, too.

For more on visiting Chile, check here.

Want to book a trip? Start here.

The Wine Experience^sm is your gateway to wine country travel throughout the world. Whether it's a getaway weekend in Sonoma, barging in Burgundy, wearing out your shoes walking the hill towns of Tuscany, or four-wheeling in Australia, the world of wine offers just about any travel experience you're looking for.