MW Chile trip in pictures

Day 4: Colchagua / Curicó. The following day began at Vina Montes, where Aurelio Montes junior gave us a brief tasting of the Montes range after telling us about the inspiration for the Chilean flag: the white represents the snow of the Andes, the blue is for Chile’s clear skies, the star is to state that the country is one state, and the red represents the blood of Chilean soldiers who fought for independence from Spain. As he concluded the seminar, he mentioned a pioneering vineyard plantation by Montes 1,200km south of Santiago on the “magical” Patagonian island of Chiloé.

Taina Vilkuna MW took inspiration from the Montes Angel, an emblem used for the winery’s Purple Angel series.

This was our most extravagant lunch yet, laid on at the Montes’ restaurant, which was created a couple of years ago in partnership with celebrity South American chef, Francis Mallmann, who is famous for grilling food on open fires. Called Fuegos de Apalta, it sits within the vines behind the Montes winery.

And Mallmann flew in to join us for lunch at this, his only restaurant in Chile. Addressing the MWs, he said, “The only reason to have wine and food is to have better conversation, and if the wine and the food is good, so much the better, but the true reason is to sit down and share thoughts.” He is pictured here with Wines of Chile director, Angelica Valenzuela.

‘Carmenere Sub-zones from Rapel’ was the topic of the ensuing seminar, which was held within the restaurant. Presenting wines at the event was founder of Clos de Luz winery, Gabriel Edwards, who showed his Carmenere from Puemo at the tasting, which taken from vines planted in 1945, although here he is pictured here with his first-rate Grenache – proof that Mediterranean grapes are perfectly suited to Chilean terroir.

Later that afternoon we headed to Casa Silva in Curicó, where we gathered alongside this historic Sauvignon Gris plantation.

Before Mario Pablo Silva led a seminar called ‘Not only Carmenere lives in Colchagua’.

And then hosted an extraordinary evening complete with a skills display from Chilean polo players and a performance of traditional Chilean music from local children.

Among the dishes served later that evening was the ‘discada’, named after the large disc-shaped pan used to boil the ingredients.

There was plenty of grilled meat too, even though it had only been a matter of hours since the Mallmann flamed steaks and lamb had been served…

The evening ended with karaoke bravely begun by Kate McIntyre MW, setting in motion a trend to finish following dinners in a similar vein.