16/10/2019 – Wine Tasting, Santa Cruz, Chile

We got up and had the provided breakfast of eggs, bread and coffee. Then we got our stuff together slowly. We ordered an Uber to a winery called Montgras. Santa Cruz is a big wine region, not really touched by backpackers yet, apparently most visited by either Chileans or Brasilians. It is only just coming into peak season, so we actually didn’t see any other tourists! This meant we could get away with organising our wine tour very last minute, this morning in fact! We pulled into the fancy looking winery, and laughed that this is our backpacking trip – it’s not bad is it! We were early so got greeted and offered an extra free glass of wine, which Josh and I were happy about. We sat in the courtyard of the building, feeling a bit like we didn’t belong but also enjoying every minute! In the end no one else had booked on the tour, so Josh and I got a private one. We got shown the vineyards and the cellar of barrels and the big vaults. We even got to try the Sauvignon blanc straight from the vat! The tour was about 90 minutes. Then for the best bit – the wine! We tasted a white and three red wines, and were served complimenting appetisers too. Josh and I did confess we were no wine connoisseurs and that actually, we barely ever drink red wine, which they seemed to find quite amusing! Afterwards, feeling warm and fuzzy inside, we went to the shop and bought a cheap bottle of white wine. Ha ha! We ordered an Uber home, went to our little hut, and watched some TV for a couple of hours. At 1800 we walked into the town and found a pizza to share. We packed, showered and got an early night.