We woke up early this morning excited for our bike and wine tour! Mac meet us at the hotel around 10 (Chilean time of course - we had been waiting since 9:15). It worked out perfect because Kyle and I were the only ones on Friday's tour, so we ended up getting a very intimate and personal tour and didn't feel rushed in the slightest. We made our way to Maipo Valley, which is the oldest wine region in Chile and has a lot of the smaller vineyards as well as the large ones. Maipo is about 45 mins outside of Santiago. We went to 3 different vineyards during our tour. We started off at Vina Cualdo - which is a very small vineyard - about 80 acres. Most of their business comes from selling their grapes to some of the larger vineyards, but they still make their own wines as well. We had one of their Chardonnays which was amazing - Kyle and I are not big white wines fans but this one was very light and not as dry as some whites can be. After we walked around the vineyard, we were ready to hop on the bikes and make our way to the next vineyard...but we had a little hiccup...they didn't have bikes for shorties like me. Oh yes, when I got on a bike, my feet could not reach the ground. So what did they do - they got a metal saw out of one of the sheds and sawed the post on the seat down for me - pretty sure that is a first for anyone :) Once the bike was adjusted for the shortie in the group, we biked to the next vineyard - Perez Cruz. umm.....AMAZING! This is one of the weathliest families in Chile and they started making wine as a "hobby". You come in through an amazing iron gate to a long dirt path that has trees drapping perfectly over the road with a stone wall lining each side with horse stables and vineyards as far as the eye can see. The total land of vineyards is 1,000 acres - oh, and did I mention that they owned the Andes Mountains behind their land...yea, you read that right, they OWN part of the ANDES MOUNTAINS. Mac took us all around the grounds telling us about the history of the different grapes, the wine process, and the different fermentation, storage, and bottling techniques. I was keeping my eyes open for any of the Perez Cruz family members for my single lady friends...no luck :( After spending close to an hr at Perez Cruz, we biked to the next vineyard, Huelken. A vineyard that is in equivalent size to Perez Cruz but does not produce as many bottles of wine because it is an up and coming wine making vineyard. Something that we learned while being in Chile is that it is very difficult for the little guys. The big guys like Perez Cruz or Concha y Toro dominate the market and put so much pressure on the "smaller" vineyards that the smaller ones just end of selling their grapes to the large companies and the larger companies claim them as their own...crazy. At Huelken, we got to meet the owner, Mario, and drink wine and eat meat and cheese with him. An absolutely great man! Very entertaining and funny! Mac and him have a great relationship so it makes for an awesome time. Mario is slowly trying to build the wine making side of his business - right now it is 10/90 - 10% of making his own wine and 90% selling his grapes to the larger companies. All of the wines we tried were awesome! Even though we only had 1 more night in Santiago, we bought 2 of his bottles to support the cause. Sadly, he does not sell outside of Chile, but Mac is trying to work on his importing license - so fingers crossed, we will be able to buy some of this amazing wine soon!! We spent about an hr talking with Mario over his wine...I of course was asking extremely specific and analytical questions - so Mario was a little suspicious and asked why I was so curious and kept giving Kyle a look like "good luck buddy". It was all in good fun though. We ended our visit with Mario and headed towards a little place for lunch with Mac and our driver. Kyle embraced the culture and ventured off the normal menu and ordered the pork wrapped in pork intestines....don't worry, I held back the vomit. He enjoyed it - I on the other hand, tried it, and said "its not my taste" (still saying that Mom and Dad). After a great meal, our bike and wine tour sadly ended and we got dropped off back at the Sheraton. It was a great day and a very unique experience. It further pushed our interest in wine and learning about other cultures...we will be visiting many more vineyards and hopefully revisting the ones we have already been to.

We have had an amazing time in Chile and can't believe it is already over. Chile will always have a special place in our hearts! Cioa and see you in the US!

Check out all of pictures from Santiago:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Kyle.Joseph.Simmons/Santiago?authuser=0&feat=directlink