Chile Earth Quake Telefon

Friday 5th and Saturday 6th of march 2010, Chilean artists and television personalities have put together a telefon, to raise funds in aid of charities that will be envolved in relief efferts for victims of the Chilean earth quake.

Even though there were no appearances from Bono, Matt Damon, George Clooney and Brad Pitt, it has been quite an event and they hope to raise $15.000.000.000 of Chilean pesos.

Even if you are outside of Chile there are still ways you can make a contribution to the cause through various bank accounts.

If you would like to donate i have placed a link below to the web page.

http://www.chileayudaachile.cl/

http://www.chileayudaachile.cl/como-ayudar/

Fuerza y Animo Chile Lindo

Chile Earth Quake and Tourism

What can i say, apart from the fact that i am alive and well, all my family and friends are fine and there is some minor damage to my house.

The earth quake was quite a scary experience, yet all my concerns are with those further south, who are far worse off than myself and others here in Valparaiso.

I called all of the vineyards in the casablanca valley and they have had alot of damage to their wine shops, tanks and barrels. 3 out of 14 wineries in the valley are open and others should be back on their feet by the weekend or next monday.

The damage to the wine industry is considerable and a more extensive and detailed analisis of the effects of the quake are under way. Its been said that some major vineyards have been completly destroyed. Lots of premium wines stored in barrels have been lost in Casablanca, Maipo, Colchagua, Maule, Rapel and Curico. Underground wells that supply water for irrigation have caved in, so there are worries about the vines, which have managed to stay intact in some regions.

All this is bad timeing, the harvest (vendimia) has or is about to start for the wineries. next week was supposed to be the harvest festival in Santa Cruz Colchagua, which has been prospond because of the quake.

The vinoteca wine shop where i regulary take tourists, has lost over a thousand bottles of wine and is in the process of repairing the damage and repainting the wine stained ceiling.

What does this mean for wine tourism? In my case, many people have canceled their wine tours with me and some have had the flights canceled due to the airport damage. In the long term things will get back to normal and i am sure that many wine enthusiasts will still come to see how the Chilean wine industry is managing the effects of this disaster.

I hope that people with already arranged trips to Chile don´t continue to cancel based on these events, when these thing happen every 25 years. Some of the pictures and reports in the international media have shown a very bleak picture, which can be percieved as being the whole country. The centre near the city of Concepcion is the most effected area, while Valparaiso and Viña del Mar are more or less intact. Santiago is not that bad either, although the airport has suffered damage, it should be up and running perfectly by next week. The city and area of Puerto Montt where you have the beautiful lake district and further south are uneffected and the far north where you have the City of Antafagasta and the Atacama desert are also uneffected.

Over the last few years tourism has been a great way for normal Chileans to grab new opportunities and to make a living. I would strongly encourage people to come and enjoy great people with some great food and wine, while supporting one of Chiles fastest growing industries.

Who knows what the 2010 vintage will be like, but i will keep a bottle in storage just for its historical significance.

Please donate what ever you can to any of the Charities working in Chile.

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.1a019a978f421296e81ec89e43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d0206aafe5517210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

http://www.cruzroja.cl/

http://www.untechoparachile.cl/


Fuerza y animo Chile lindo!

http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/quake-hits-chiles-wine-industry-448329.html

http://www.winesofchile.org/news-press/chilean-earthquake-wine-industry-thankful-for-international-support/comment-page-1/#comment-603

http://www.adventuretravelnews.com/tourism-chile-update-on-chiles-tourism-infrastructure-following-saturdays-earthquake

HMS Manchester on the wine trail

On the 16th and 17th of June 2009, winetoursvalparaiso were delighted and proud to have had the opportunity of taking a group of petty officers and gunnery sargents from The Royal Navy´s HMS Manchester on a wine tour in the Casablanca valley.



The group on the 16th was made up of 26 people and the group on the 17th was comprised of 20. On both days we did a tour which consisted of the following itinerary;

9:00am Pick up
10:00 William Cole vineyard tour and tasting
12:00 Emiliana organic vineyard tour and tasting
13:00 Lunch at vineyard Indomita
16:00 The Vinoteca wine store and tasting







With a group of sailers who had been away from home for a while with a great need of getting rid of tentions and letting their hair down, the tour became a mix of cultural interest and a stag night rolled into one. The most important thing is that apart from learning about winemaking aspects such as toasted barrells, tannings and how Rose is actually made, they had a very good laugh and memerable time, which is what a wine tour with winetoursvalparaiso is all about.







Both groups bought lots of wine, which they thought was fantastic compared to what they had picked up in the Falklands. They were impressed by the Sauvignon blanc from William cole and the William Cole Carmeneré. They also took advantage of special offers in the vineyard on William Cole Rosé and a 2004 Merlot which was very nice and at its peak. At Emiliana organic winery they were grabbed by the Sauvignon Blanc Adobe, the Chardonnay Viogner Marsan Novas blend and the magnificent Coyam blend. At Indomita the Chardonnay varietel was well recieved as well as the Zardos special reserve.





I met the guys from the group on the 16th in the evening to take them to a few bars i know in Valparaiso and on the 17th i was invited up to the mes to savour the mes bar which was rather like a cricket club bar on the village green.

As a huge gesture the guys invited me, my son Max and Matt from corrugated city on board for a fabulous 3 hour tour of the ship and supplied us with expat rations of sausages, bacon and tea.

It was a great 2 days and one of the highlights of winetoursvalparaisos story. I hope to see the guys in this part of the world again for some great wine and a good time.

Corrugated City: Wine. Grapes. Vineyard Tours. Casablanca Valley. Chile.

Corrugated City: Wine. Grapes. Vineyard Tours. Casablanca Valley. Chile.

Wine. Grapes. Vineyard Tours. Casablanca Valley. Chile.

One of the best blogs on the internet regarding Valparaiso Chile has made an entry which mentions winetoursalparaiso and the Casablanca valley.

Corrugated City run by the property management company Pacific Five trie to promote all the wonderous things in Valparaiso so as to encorouge more people to stay, live and invest in the city which is only a 40km from Casablanca.

It does so happen that Matt the creator of the Corrugated City blog has worked for winetoursvalparaiso on a part time basis and the entry on blog talks about his evaluation of the vineyards and wine, also a taste of his experiences whilst on the job.

Matt also has some wine investment and consultancy projects developing in the Colchagua valley for more information just browse through his blog.

Casablanca Harvest Festival 2009

Its that time of year again when all the gorgeous grapes are being picked and turned into wonderous wine.

This year Casablanca will celebrate this years grape harvest known as the Vendimia with a special festival held for the first time ever in the Casablanca town square on April 25th 2009.

The day will start at 11:00am with a religious mass followed by the inaugaration of the event. There will be folk music, theatre on the theme of wine and tastings which will end at 22:00.

Transport can be taken from the Valparaiso bus terminal or contact michael@winetoursvalparaiso.cl.

Prince Charles visits Emiliana Organic vineyard in Casablanca Chile

His Royal highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and his wife Camila Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall made a visit to Emiliana an organic winery in the heart of the central chilean area known as the Casablanca Valley thirty minutes drive from Valparaíso.

The visit to casablanca and this particular vineyard is based on the idea that the Prince who is himself an organic farmer, has decided to take a wine tour and a probable tasting in the 5th region of Chile, in order to learn more about how organic farming is handled in this part of the world.

The Prince will have a chance to meet the owners, who are part of the Concha y Toro winery and the fantastic and iconic winemaker Alvaro Espinoza the main engine behind organic wine production in Chile.

Its great that someone with his statue has come to a valley hardly recognized for it great Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and it was a shame that winetoursvalparaiso did not get a chance to show them both around the valley theres always a next time.

Maybe the Prince will start selling Emiliana wines in his organic shop in Windsor.