Our driver Richardo was FABULOUS, communicative (even though he doesn’t speak a word of English he used translation tools and gestures), friendly, positive and a good driver.
Our guide at the vineyard Paolo is passionate, funny, though he did brush through the technologies of wine making while we were in the cellar, calling it “boring”. Also didn’t appreciate being told the color, smell and taste of wines before we even tasted them.
The tour consists of two parts, first tour of the vineyard and a brief wine tasting (of 3 different wine labels) led by Paolo. Second part was led by a sommelier (skeptical of his credential though since he avoided our question of how long did it take him to become a sommelier), with four pieces of cheese (goat, butter, Brie, Parmesan) with four glasses of wines. The wines, however, were of the same label (Marquis) but different varieties ( rose, Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah).
The wines in the wine store are much more expensive than what you’d pay outside of chile. We checked the price and were shocked to see 50% price difference.
We paid for Premium wine tasting and it didn’t feel like it. The cheese certainly didn’t feel premium. We were told this place is the McDonald’s of wineries in chile and we didn’t believe it at first! kinda have to agree now.