sábado, 22 de septiembre de 2012

Polkura

What does it mean?

I don't know but it tastes good.

Polkura, Syrah, Colchagua, 2009.

Elegant, fruity, spicey and balanced.

sábado, 15 de septiembre de 2012

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Here is just one of Chiles many stray dogs Chilling out on the streets of Vina del Mar.

viernes, 14 de septiembre de 2012

Traditional Chilean folkloric dances.

One of the interesting things about Chile are the numerous folkloric dances that exist.

At the school my two sons attend we were treated to a show of various examples of folkloric dances that come from all over Chile.

The famous and most popular dance is the cueca, which is normally performed by a man and a women, each holding a white napkin. The stand a distance from each other before the music starts, then they proceed to dance around each, waving the in a swirling motion above their heads. It is supposed to suggest some kind of mating ritual like that of a cockerel and hen.

All of this was put on at the school to celebrate Chilean independence day, September 18th, which is a national holiday.

jueves, 13 de septiembre de 2012

Not perfect but great.

It was not perfect. Not everyone that had been invited turned up to the Valparaiso launch of Tunquen wines. But you can be sure that we had a great time talking about and tasting these fine wines.

miércoles, 12 de septiembre de 2012

Viña Tunquen wine presentation at the Fauna Hotel, Valparaiso.


I am looking forward to tomorrows presentation of Tunquen wines at the Hotel Fauna tomorrow.

domingo, 9 de septiembre de 2012

Quaint arty things you can pick up in Valparaiso.

Its always great when someone enjoys Valparaiso for what it has to offer. Not just the hill side lifts and magical realism of the city, but the wonderful bits of art that you can so easily buy.

Some great works can be found at around $10.000USD, which for some people is pocket money, but you can still get your hands on something creative to stick on your wall at home for as little as $20USD.

One happy buyer kindly sent me a photo of her proud purchase, framed and mounted on her wall back in Miami.

I won't tell  you how much she payed for it.

Things change.

I passed by Vina Mar yesterday to show some tourist how sparkling wine wine is made.

As we entered the winery, i realized that some big changes had been made and the main changes were the fact that all of the bottling and all of the elaboration of sparkling wine done through the Charmat method had been moved out of the Casablanca valley and to the Maipo valley.

This is all to do with the San Pedro wine group which owns Vina Mar and their necessity to cut costs.

Fortunately the traditional method (Champenoise) for making sparking has remained at the vineyard, which is good news.

New food and wine pairing lunch at Morande.

Yesterday was my first tour with a food and wine pairing lunch since returning from London in August.

We started with some seared tuna topped with a mushroom and mango cream paste, served with a Vistamar Sepia Reserve Chardonnay from Casablanca.

Next was a cream of lentil soup with rabbit ravioli and toasted Serrano ham, served with Morande Gran Reserve Pinot Noir from Casablanca.

We continued with seared Mahi Mahi fish (From Easter Island) with gnocchi, blue cheese and sautéed pears. This was served with Morande Terrarum Reserve Carmenere from Maipo.

The next plate was grilled skirt steak also known as Entrana in spanish. This was accompanied with a white bean, bacon puree and minted peperonata. This was served with Zorzal Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, Gualtallary, from the Uco valley.

I then added to the normal menu a Iberic salad, which consisted of rocket leaves, sun dried tomato, slices of serrano ham topped with grated parmesan cheese. This was served with a Morande Terrarum Reserve Sauvignon Blanc from the Casablanca valley.

The lunch was then rounded off with a mixed desert plate full of delightful sweet things. We had molten chocolate cake, walnut crisp with creamy caramel, pistachio creme brûlée, chocolate crepe with red fruits, pear and almond strudel with brie cheese, then scoops of vanilla, pistachio and caramel ice-cream. All of this was served with a Vistamar Late Harvest Moscatel from the Limari valley and accompanied with tea and coffee.

So as you can imagine everyone afterwards felt plenteous and satisfied.

jueves, 6 de septiembre de 2012

Shoes on a wire.

What does this mean? Does it mean that Valparaiso is full unfriendly bullies that will rip your shoes off and throw them onto electrical lines or is it a strange porteno game or is it a way rival gangs mark there territory.

The mystery is out there on streets of Valparaiso.

miércoles, 5 de septiembre de 2012

Casas del Bosque Mirador almost finished.

I had a peak at the new mirador complex at Casas del Bosque vineyard and it looks very impressive.

With a scintillating view of the vineyard and the north western part of the valley, the new modern building which resemles a cross between Frank Loyd Wright and Luis Barragan includes a fine kitchen and a barbecue for weddings and corporate events.

Alot of the building has been constructed with materials taken from the surrounding area and uses alternative energy such as solar panels.

Private tour with Grant Phelps at Casas del Bosque.

I had a more than interesting time with Mr Grant Phelps, winemaker and funky pole dancing Dj.

He arranged a private tour for a very good friend and Portillo skiing partner Javier Mota automobile journolist from Miami.

After a jaunt around the winery and vines we settled down to a three course set menu, which included seared salmon and baked herb potatoes as the main course.


Back in action.

A mixture of seafood on black squid ink rice at the Oda pacifico restaurant in cerro bella vista, Valparaiso.

This is where i was inspired to start writting on the blog again after being some what busy.

So i suppose that i am now back in action.