Colchagua Valley
Colchagua Valley
Duration: 2 days
Cost: $620 per person
As these Chile tours will demonstrate, the Colchagua Valley well deserves the glowing reviews it receives for its premium red wines, particularly the Carménère, Syrah and Malbec varieties.
Colchagua Valley Itinerary
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Day 1 SANTIAGO - COLCHAGUA VALLEY
You will be picked up in the morning from your Santiago hotel to drive two hours south on the Pan-American Highway to get acquainted with the famed agricultural and wine regions of the central Chile, starting at the eastern end of Colchagua Valley. With wealth derived from mining in the late nineteenth century, some of Chile’s important families introduced fine wine varieties of French origin, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Merlot and Malbec. A re-birth of fine wine traditions here in the mid-1990s has developed the valley into one of the most important wine regions in South America. You will visit Colchagua’s oldest winery, Casa Silva, founded by Emilio Bouchon, who arrived in Chile in 1892. Casa Silva is best known for its award winning Carménère, the signature grape of Chile. Your tour will include a visit to the historic winery, a tasting of its reserve wines and a delicious lunch prepared in the modern style of the on-site restaurant’s Chilean chef. In the afternoon, after a short drive you will check into Santa Cruz Plaza Hotel to enjoy on your own all the hotel has to offer. (L,D)
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Day 2 COLCHAGUA VALLEY
Your day starts with a visit to the Neyen de Apalta Winery, a perfect blend of tradition and modernity, which focuses all of its production on one Bordeaux-style blend from its115 year-old Carménère vines. The winery was founded by the Rojas family in 2002 on the site of one of the area’s pioneering wineries that dates back to the late 19th century. Only twenty minutes away is your next destination, Casa Lapostolle. Created in 1994 by Alexandra Marnier
Lapostolle (of the Grand Marnier family), this winery produces some of the best QPR (quality/price ratio) wines in Chile. Since its outstanding 1997 debut vintage, Casa Lapostolle's Clos Apalta bottling has helped establish Chile as a premier red-wine region. Owner Marnier-Lapostolle and her team began by creating a blend of Chile's distinctive Carménère variety, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from the estate's oldest vines in Colchagua's Apalta sub-valley. They kept refining, fermenting in smaller lots, hand-de-stemming and constructed a gravity-flow winery. In 2008, its Clos Apalta was awarded a 96 in Wine Spectator and chosen as the top wine of the year. Following this memorable visit, you will be taken to lunch at Vino Bello Restaurant and then go by carriage to the Laura Hartwig Winery. Laura Bisquertt inherited the property of “Santa Laura” from her father in 1966. Later, with her husband, Alejandro Hartwig, she moved to Canada, where they discovered their passion for excellent wine and returned to Chile to open their winery as a retirement project. At the conclusion of the tour, you will be returned to Santiago. (B,L)
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Key: (B)reakfast (L)unch (D)inner
CONTACT US
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1.877.784.5400
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OUTSIDE
THE U.S.A. CALL
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INCLUSIONS / EXCLUSIONS
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Included in tour cost
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All ground transportation with professional bilingual driver
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All entrance fees
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Meals as indicated
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Lodging in selected hotel (double accommodations) with breakfast
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Excluded in tour cost
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Internal Flights
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Personal expenses and tips
SINGLE SUPPLEMENT
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Additional $TBD
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Single Supplement is the additional cost of a single traveler not sharing a room in double occupancy. We will match you with another same gender traveler unless you request single accommodations.
Prices based on 3.5% cash discount
