Headaches and Wine.

It`s back again. I think it`s definitely from the hostel. It is too clean, too chemically. It`s the kind of headache that doesn`t so much make your head ache but messes with your senses and equilibrium. I could feel it in my sinuses and forehead and ears and it made me want to puke a little at times. I had a boyfriend in high school whose father claimed that he couldn`t work because he was too sensitive to smells from candles and deodorant and fabric softener. He stayed at home and collected disability. My family and I thought he was full of shit or just crazy, but now I am starting to think he`s on to something. Maybe I can get the government on board and that is how I will financially supplement myself as I pursue my dreams of farming.and opting out of the system.

This afternoon I was picked up at the hostel by Sergio Reyes, Managing Director of Geo Wines. (http://www.geowines.cl/ ) He had a friendly face and looked very presentable though he was only dressed in jeans, polo shirt, and sneakers. We got into his white pickup and drove about 40 minutes out of Santiago to Isla de Maipo where they source some of the grapes. As we drove Sergio explained that I in fact visited Santiago at just the right time. I came during a window of about 2 weeks when most of the residents here go on holiday, leaving behind a quiet, low-traffic, low pollution city. I also got a geography lesson.

The Central Valley of Chile is bordered by two mountain ranges, thus creating said Valley. To the west is the Nahuelbuta Range and to the East are the Andes. These two ranges provide two distinct and very different climates and soils. The Nahuelbuta Range range has rich granitic soil which is very fertile and a cool ocean breeze as a result of the Humbolt Current. Anything can be grown here without limitation (anything except tropical fruits because it will frost here, though no snow). The soil at the foot of the Andes is clay and sand and rocks and is horrible for growing almost everything, except wine. Poor soil is a benefit to wine growers who want a low yield because if the soil is too rich, the grapes would grow too big and have too much juice. With the poor soil the grapes remain fairly small (because they are basically malnurished), thus concentrating the sugars and the essence of the grape which will then get fermented out and into alcohol.

The grapes used for Geo wines are all grown organically, which is interesting as Sergio spent over 10 years working for chemical companies who manufacture fertilizers. Now he believes that good wine comes from a good relationship from to the land, mutual respect, and symbiosis.. There is very little rainfall, especially in the summer, and so wells are drilled and the vines are watered with a drip irrigation system once every 15 days. They are fertilized with compost as well as the by-products from the wine making process (the spent grapes are returned to the soil after crushing), and the vines are planted between fruit trees and things like lavender to support a poly-culture system while encouraging bio-diversity. It also acts as a natural deterrent against bugs and other pests who eat the fruits and other things planted for them but leave the vines alone.

Geo Wines is comprised of several different lines and we tasted wines from three of them, the Rayun (their single varietal classic entry level line, all screw cap, no oak), Chono (the Reserva wines produced in small quantities of between 1,000 and 5,000 cases annually), and Ventolera. As Sergio opened the bottles and prepared for our tasting I realized I hadn`t drunk wine in quite some time, let alone wine that should be savored and lingered over. I was out of practice. I found myself in a slight panic searching the depths of my mind to recall the words used to describe the color, body, and taste. Zippy, soft, acidic, rose, berry, clean, fine tannin, smooth, earth, bold, leather, finish, mouth feel, delicate, spicy, creamy, complex, elegant, structure. I didn`t want Sergio to think I was an amateur. I concentrated on making just the right slurpy sound as I sucked in the air and mingled it with the wine. I made sure to use the spittoons (at least a little) as to not appear a lush. But in the end I just focused on the experience of having the Managing Director of some of the best Chilean wines give me a one on one personal tour through his portfolio and vineyard. The wines we tried really were all those adjectives that I had stored in the back of my mind somewhere, and upon putting the glass to my nose and the wine to my lips the words to describe them came back to me with ease.