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Santa Cruz Chile Wine Tour on a Budget |
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 In
Santa Cruz, the hotels and the vineyards sell packages
internationally that include tours of the vineyards and their wine
production facilities. Some include the wine train, that departs from
Santiago and lands at certain vineyards on the weekends. These are
all very nice; but, it is also nice to get out and talk to people,
explore the back roads, while pumping a bit of money directly in to
the pockets of the locals, and hopefully a bit of wine in to you.
Organizing your own Wine Tour in Santa Cruz, Chile
First,
you should be aware that most vineyards in the area do not accept
walk ups to the main gate. You typically have to book one of the wine
tour packages at about 70,000 pesos ($150 US) in Santa Cruz. That
said, we did discover a couple wineries that offer public tastings.
The nice thing about this is you often have the vineyard to yourself
in the off peak hours. You have time to talk to the people who work
in the Vineyards. If you make friends, they often have a secret
bottle stashed away they are willing to share. Come on lets face it.
One wine vine looks like the next after a while. We come to drink the
wine.
Getting to Santa Cruz by bus from Santiago is fairly easy. You can do this whole tour in one day if you like:
Buses
Pullman del Sur
Jotabeche
124
Metro
Universidad de Santiago
(Same
big Turbus Station)
Ticket
Santiago – San Fernando – Santa Cruz
About
CLP $3,000
If
you cannot get a direct ticket to Santa Cruz, from San Fernando daily
departures to Santa Cruz every half an hour.
So,
our first stop in Santa Cruz is the central park where the Taxi
drivers park under a shade tree waiting for fairs. A little
negotiation will free them up for the day to drive you to the
vineyards. Expect to pay around 20,000-40,000 pesos depending on how
far you want to go. They will wait while you see the Vineyard, stop
and let you take photos as you go along, and impart as much
information about the history, politics, and culture of Colchagua
Valley and Santa Cruz as any tour guide.
Our strong recommendation is our good friend Rafael Vasquez Saldivar, a taxi
driver that can be found in the central park. We typically call him a
day or so in advance to book a tour, but he would likely be willing
to give you the afternoon with a couple of hours notice (56 09 9
5571495).
Vina Santa Cruz
Our
recommendation is to start with the Vina Santa Cruz. Located on the
road from Santa Cruz to Lolol. This is one of the larger vineyards in
the area, and one of the more interesting tastings. A tasting
typically cost about 5,000 pesos per person, and it is well worth it.
They lead you down in to one of the wine cellars, and pour nice big
glasses of wine amongst the wine barrels.
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