“It’s not really very safe.” Hearing those words, from winemaker Marcelo Retamal in a barrel area that is little more than a small warehouse on the Isla De Maipo estate of De Martino, surrounded by support beams that have been twisted and broken like so many toothpicks, and overshadowed by a ceiling that looks as…
Category: on the road
The Stunning Views, Intestinal Flora And Strange Consultation Of South America’s Wine Lands
Contracting a vicious intestinal bug (the kind that requires antibiotics… the kind that makes taking Imodium akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight) isn’t usually taken as a positive omen when it comes to starting a new career. So it’s with mixed emotions of relief and ominous portent that tell you I faced…
Visiting Hestan: More Money Than God, And A Pretty Tasty Cabernet, Too
The point when (or is that where… damn, I can never keep that straight) any normal person realizes that Stanley Cheng is loaded, and I mean God-calls-him-when-He-needs-a-loan loaded, probably comes pretty early during the course of meeting him; in my case, it came about ten minutes before I met him, while coasting up the lengthy,…
1WineDude TV Episode 31: Postcard From South America
A teaser vid from my recent jaunt to Chile and Argentina, including a polo match at Casa Silva in Chile, Finca Altamira Malbec harvest at Achaval Ferrer in Mendoza, and instruction on the proper (Argentine) methods for preparing Yerba Mate tea at Zuccardi. Just another day at the office! Cheers!