24 hours in the vineyard of a wealthy Norwegian businessman
Chileans have a lot to learn in wine tourism expertise. Forget spending two or three days in a vineyard to taste the local products. Visits are closely supervised and entry will cost you the equivalent of 20 euros. Visits and tasting are available only to groups. Spending the night to savour regional foodstuff washed down with the local wine is unheard of, barring a few exceptions.
A notable one is Alexander Vik, a wealthy Norwegian who has invested 28 million dollars to set up a vineyard two hours by road from Santiago. With the help of French experts, including marketing director Gonzague de Lambert, Vik was clever enough to convert the magnificent house he lives in when in Chile into a luxury lodge for those who favour spending one or several nights on the spot. You can even stay in Vik's room if he is not in residence. It offers a superb view of the vineyard.
The house is a harmonious blend of wood and metal and you can watch the sun set from the terraces. Paulina, Alexander Vik's private cook, is on hand to serve visitors simple yet tasty meals. Picoteo (the Chilean version of Spain's tapas), empanadas stuffed with meat or shrimps, olives and cheese washed down, naturally, with a Pisco Sour for starters. Then comes a fillet of beef roasted in the oven and served with tomatoes and green peas. To top it all, Paulina serves a superb chocolate dessert with vanilla ice-cream. The meal is accompanied throughout with the local wine, a flowing and delicate Vik 2009, which retails at 100 dollars a bottle. To sum up, a top-quality meal one would look for in vain in most Chilean restaurants who insist on sophisticated cuisine instead of opting for simplicity. Chile's grape varieties are 63 per cent Carmènère, 34 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 2 per cent Cabernet franc and the rest is Syrah.
Such quality comes at a price: 450 dollars per night and per person. But this includes the possibility of horse riding or biking along the vineyard's 4000 hectares, which is the way Alexander Vik tours his property when he is in residence. Sabrina, a French woman from the wine-growing Bordeaux region married to a Chilean national, runs the vineyard' s communications and is a key person to deal with. While there, you will learn that the wine served in the lodge is aiming at a maximum 100 points in the Parker guide and that the vineyard has an eye on exports, mainly to Asia, the United States, Canada, Russia and Brazil.
To live the life of a Chilean wine-grower for 24 hours should delight visitors with an eye for upmarket tourism and original ventures. State of the art wine-making equipment and oak barrels were imported from France. The cellar under construction will be 300 meter-long and 30 meter-wide. Alexander Vik hesitated between Argentina and Chile to set up his vineyard. He finally decided on Chile after a year-long study of the soils.