Do The World: Chile Day 2

Today we venture into the newest of wine valleys in this area. We begin at La Sirca hosted by the owner's daughter Michelle. This family hails from Bolivia. The father is in the construction business. The winery, the cabins, their homes are constructed from material left over from their Bolivian construction projects. Great integration of leftovers. It all looks great.

The first white wine knocks CJ's socks off. Rarely has a white wine solicited such a reaction. Only two previous white wines have tasted like this one. Both top flight white burgundies: Batard-Montrechet and Corton-Charlemagne!

We are treated to a circumnavigation of the property by golf cart. The white grapes come from the vineyard with the highest elevation. Their three older Labradors huff and puff around the property with us.

There are cabins amongst the vines and larger cabins on the lake.

They also act as contract winemakers for several clients. First we tour the place where the contract winemaking occurs. In addition to two types of eggs, there are a couple of large square containers.

Their wine is stored in a naturally cool cellar. The wall of the buried cellar shows the various layers and types of rock.

The dogs remain with us.

We complete the tasting event with four red wines.

The next stop is at the adjacent property. Vina Los Chanchitos is owned by a family from New Orleans. The owner, Michael, walks us through an amazing mural decorating the outside wall of the winery. The painting is the creative art of a surfer from the coast. Michael told him he wanted the theme to be his journey from New Orleans to Chile. All of the creativity comes from his artistry and his personal research into a place he has never visited, New Orleans.

Artistic license allows the surfer to get himself into the mural. He's also teaching the owner's two children to surf.

This is the transition part of the mural. On top, the owner's house in the vineyard. At the bottom with CJ is Louis Armstrong.

Their pitmaster is a retired police officer. This is his inclusion in the mural.

In these depictions from the French Quarter, this version of Andrew Jackson's statue has him holding a wine glass.

We tour the winery. Are they brewing beer also? No, these are used for topping off the barrels.

We taste four of their wines.

Two more wines accompany lunch. Michael currently has a pit master in residence visiting from New Orleans. He is smoking two huge slabs of bacon for an event. This is the retired police officer from the mural.