Drinking wine at 10am

Yesterday we went on our first wine tour. We visited the two oldest vineyards in Chile: Undurraga (est. 1885) and Concha y Toro (est. 1883). They were very different but both very interesting. Because Undurraga is the less "touristy" one, they allowed us to roam free, and we enjoyed that one more (we visited in the morning, and that's why we were drinking wine at 10am). Concha y Toro is more well-known, so there was a lot of security, and we were limited in where we could go. We did, however, get to go down into "El Casillero del Diablo". Overall, we liked the wine at Concha y Toro better, but the whole tour was great.

Pinot Noir grapes ripening on the vine at Undurraga.

Esma next to some of Undurraga's barrels in one of their bodegas.

Here we are at the "Casillero del Diablo", which got its name long ago. Don Melchor, the founder of this winery, kept his best wine in this underground cellar. One day he noticed that some of his best bottles were missing, so he spread a story that the devil lived in the cellar to try to keep out the locals. His ploy worked, and he never had bottles stolen again. Today, Concha y Toro's finest barrels of wine (Don Melchor) are still kept in this underground cellar.