Staying at one of the winery B B’s is a great way to unwind out in the country, and many offer activ

TPG Managing Editor Eric Rosen has a background as a food and wine writer and has covered wine regions all over the globe including Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Austria and many of those in his native California, so we decided to launch a new # WineWednesday cheap hotels puerto rico   series where every week we give you a brief snapshot of wine regions all over the globe and insight on how to get there, where to stay and a couple places cheap hotels puerto rico you might want to visit while there. Today we head to a New World wine region where they ve been making wine for over 500 years (go figure!): Chile s Colchagua cheap hotels puerto rico Valley .
We picked Chile as one of our Top 10 destinations to visit in 2013 thanks to Santiago's cosmopolitan allure, the wild beauty of Patagonia's glaciers and parks, the otherworldly beauty of the Atacama Desert in the north and Easter Island 's mystical charm. However, one of the very best reasons to visit this Southern cheap hotels puerto rico Hemisphere is to visit its wine regions, several of which are becoming veritable powerhouses on the international wine scene.
The most famous of them is the Colchagua Valley, about a 90-minute drive south of Santiago, where you can discover the country's signature grape varietal, Carmenere (though it actually only accounts for about 10% of Chile's wine production) as well as other familiar grapes cheap hotels puerto rico like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay, as you explore wineries whose histories date back well over a century.
In fact, wine was being produced in Chile way back in the 1550's, making it the oldest wine-producing cheap hotels puerto rico country in the Americas. Many of Chile's current grapevines were planted from French roots in the 19 th century, and thanks to its geographic isolation between the Pacific cheap hotels puerto rico and the Andes, the country has some of the only non-phylloxera-infested vineyards in the world.
Getting to Chile is easier and cheaper than ever thanks not only to new airline partnerships such as Aerolineas Argentinas joining SkyTeam and the merging LATAM going with Oneworld , but also thanks to recent fare sales like this one on TAM in November, or super-cheap business class fares to Santiago on American Airlines last month.
The main airport in Santiago is Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport. Delta flies here from Atlanta, cheap hotels puerto rico American flies non-stop to Dallas/Forth Worth and Miami, and LAN offers direct service to New York-JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.
The Colchagua Valley, just about 90 minutes south of Santiago at the southern end of the larger Rapel Valley. Its temperate, dry, sunny climate produces powerful, fruit-driven reds, so you'll find a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as more and more Syrah these days along with Chile's national grape, Carmenere, which has bright red fruit notes and a velvety, rounded mouthfeel.
To get a great sense of the valley's history, take some time to visit one of the biggest names on the Chilean wine scene, Casa Silva , a family-run winery near the town of San Fernando that is over 100 years old. Tucked cheap hotels puerto rico among its vineyards these days is a beautiful little inn, a polo and riding school, a small rodeo arena and a delicious gourmet restaurant in the polo clubhouse cheap hotels puerto rico serving traditional specialties. Though the winery is in Colchagua, it actually produces wines from grapes grown all over Chile, so be sure to try the Casa Silva Cool Coast Sauvignon Blanc the flagship Carmenere Reserva and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva to get some solid benchmarks of what Chilean wines are like.
Nearby, MontGras is another big name in Chilean wine where visitors can arrange for horseback cheap hotels puerto rico rides and barbecues up in the hilly Ninquén vineyard or wine-blending classes at the winery itself and lunch at its restaurant. Lucky guests who come during harvest (March-May) can also ask tot take part in the grape harvest.
The main town of the Colchagua Valley, Santa Cruz, is just a half-hour farther south. Anchoring its main square cheap hotels puerto rico is a hotel-casino (more on that below) that also houses the Colchagua Museum , an eclectic cheap hotels puerto rico collection of local fossils and  archaeological cheap hotels puerto rico finds, antique cars and trains, jewelry and more, all assembled by an eccentric Chilean tycoon.
Santa Cruz is a good base from which to visit nearby wineries with recognizable names like Casa Lapostolle , which is owned by the same family that owns Grand Marnier. Perched cheap hotels puerto rico on a hill outside town is its showcase winery, resembling an enormous bird s nest, where they make their high-end Clos Apalta and Borobo labels. Visitors here can also enjoy activities like hiking, bike rides or horseback cheap hotels puerto rico rides around the property's 1,600 acres.
Also nearby, Montes , has become one of Chile's most well-respected premium wineries. It makes for an interesting cheap hotels puerto rico visit because the building was designed according to the principles of feng shui with custom-designed water features and a semi-circular cheap hotels puerto rico barrel room where the maturing wines are serenaded cheap hotels puerto rico with Gregorian chants around the clock in order to produce a harmonious cheap hotels puerto rico natural cheap hotels puerto rico resonance in the wines. Here you can try the winery's flagship Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as other iconic wines including the supple, slightly spicy Carmenere-based Purple Angel.
One of the Colchagua's most fun gourmet experiences is taking a cooking class with one of Chile's most famous chefs, Pilar Rodriguez, at her cooking studio on the grounds of the Viu Manent winery. cheap hotels puerto rico Guests help Rodriguez prepare a multi-course feast of Chilean specialties such as roast pork ribs in adobo with mote (grain stew) and ceviche made from local shrimp and citrus. Each course is paired with a Viu Manent cheap hotels puerto rico wine, such as the tart Secreto Sauvignon Blanc and the inky Gran Reserva Carmenere. Visitors can also just drop by and visit the winery's on-site restaurant for a gourmet lunch with wine pairings.
For more of a trippy tasting experience, make a stop at Viña Santa Cruz , where you can taste wines before or after taking a gondola cheap hotels puerto rico up the property's mountain to explore a sort of mini-museum with replicas of indigenous settlements and buildings, hike the scenic trails for valley views and even go star-gazing in the small observatory after dark.
Staying at one of the winery B B's is a great way to unwind out in the country, and many offer activities like horseback riding, guided cheap hotels puerto rico tours and bicycles to keep you entertained while you're not wine tasting as well as gourmet restaurants where you can enjoy leisurely tasting menus for dinner.
In Santa Cruz itself, the Hotel Santa Cruz Plaza is on the more affordable side of the budget spectrum and has 116 rooms and 16 suites as well as a decent restaurant and bar, a spa and a casino that gets lively in the evenings.
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I came on here to recommend those exact same wineries. Paying for the tour at Lapostolle is very much worth it. Definitely requires cheap hotels puerto rico at least one night as it is a bit of a drive and allows you to drink more wine!
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