OUr fist Stop: Laura Hartwig Winery

That wind! I know it’s super good for the grapes, cooling them down at night and all that, but that day, cycling around the Colchagua Valley to visit some wineries, the wind really wasn’t my best friend.

Wine and bike in the Colchagua Valley! What the hell did I think when I agreed to it? I probably just heard the “wine” bit of the sentence and thought the bike part will somehow happen miraculously without any need of my involvement. I WAS WRONG! I STRUGGLED!  However, that’s just the out-of-shape me. The in-shape me tells you one thing: When in the Colchagua Valley, grab a bike and go and see those lovely wineries! There is no better way to explore Colchagua Valley than on a saddle of a bike. And yes, it is also super managable when you’re not fit. I was exeggarating a bit to get an exciting entry to the post. Sorry.

Here is a map of the region that we covered in a day:

 

We started our bike and wine tour in Santa Cruz, the wine capital of Colchagua Valley. From here we visited the following wineries: Laura Hartwig, MontGras, Estampa and Montes. In that order. Three in the morning (yes, my legs!) and one in the afternoon. We encountered great wines, lovely landscapes, amazing architecture and super friendly staff.  Come on a tour of the wineries with me. In today’s blog, I will take you to Laura Hartwig winery. The other wineries will follow in the next few days.

Laura Hartwig Winery

This winery is set in absolutely lovely surroundings and makes a great visit at every time of the day. From the 80h of vines that the family grows, only 20h are used for wine production (only reds), making Laura Hartwig one of the smaller producers in the valley. You can get a tour through the vineyards, the cellar and a tasting of the wines. You can even visit the vineyards in a horse carriage. We didn’t do that, no time, we had a strict regime. Next time I definitely will!

We got a tour with super friendly and knowledgeable winery guide Cesar where we learned about the history of the winery and the production of the red wines.

From the wines we tasted, we particulary enjoyed the Great Reserve Premium Family Edition wine which is a blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Petit Verdot, 34% Malbec and 2 % Cabernet Franc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But also a Petit Verdot that was my first 100% Petit Verdot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I highly recommend this winery for a relaxing visit, with its colonial house and attention to detail it really helps you wind down.  Of course the wine helps with that too!

For more information visit the winery’s website.

Next winery we visited was MontGras…post will follow shortly.