Impressions from Chile — DAVID YARBOROUGH

I recently made a long-awaited return to Chile. It was Allie’s first visit there, and I was eager to show her why I had always looked forward to my many business trips there. Despite high expectations, neither of us was disappointed.

Thanking Carolina Baźan for a great meal

Chile is a progressive country, always seemingly a step ahead of its South American neighbors. The long (2700 miles), narrow (average width of 110 miles) country rises from the Pacific to heights above 20,000 feet in the Andes Mountains that separate it from Argentina and Bolivia. Chile is blessed with mineral riches (it is the world’s leading producer of copper) and fertile soils that allow, given its north/south orientation and variety of altitudes, the ability to produce an amazing array of agricultural products. The result of these blessings is a dynamic economy that is the envy of its neighbors. Chile is a proud country, safe, stable and affluent. As we drove past an obviously poor neighborhood our driver commented, “We still have some poverty, but at least we have eliminated the misery of it.”

While the capital Santiago lacks the sexy reputation of Rio or BA, it is an impressive city worthy of a visit. Its sprawl was vividly revealed in the view from the steps of the chapel at the base of the iconic state of the Virgin Mary atop Cerro San Cristobal. The growth of the greater Santiago metro area is staggering, from about 2 million fifty years ago to almost 8 million today! This represents nearly 50% of the whole country.

The trip to the top of San Cristobal is not to be missed. Beforehand explore the Bellavista neighborhood and stop for lunch at Barrica 94 in the Patios de Bellavista complex. They have an outstanding wine program. Good advice is to take the funicular up, skipping the zoo stop unless that is something you really have to see. After taking in the view of sprawling Santiago from the foot of the Virgin (with beautiful, haunting music emanating from hidden speakers everywhere), continue across and downward via the gondola, the walk back across the river on bustling Avenida de Pedro Valdivia.

The city is clean and friendly, with a very good metro system, something we used to supplement our long walks across the vast city. We stayed in a tiny boutique hotel, CasaSur, located in the Barrio Italiano which proved an interesting neighbor to explore. Santiago has a vibrant restaurant scene. Our favorite was Ambrosia Bistro, where acclaimed chef Carolina Bazán prefers to cook over her own fine dining restaurant Ambrosia (currently rated #20 in the world!) She was animatedly orchestrating the staff in the tiny kitchen while her partner Rosario Onetto welcomed guests and kept them entertained while waiting for a coveted open spot in the intimate Café. Everything about our experience there—the food, the service, the atmosphere—was exceptional.

While in Santiago we enjoyed an evening of surprisingly good classical music at the beautiful Teatro Municipal with my old friend Victor who had surprised us at a dinner party during our visit to Lima last spring. The old opera house was charming and the diverse program—from Beethoven to Bernstein—was wonderfully performed to the delight of a very sophisticated audience.

Chile is a great country for wine touring. Years ago, I had the pleasure of being hosted at the former estate of Domingo Fernández Concha by its then owner, Ricardo Claro. I liked Don Ricardo, one of the wealthiest, and most controversial, men in the country. Among his many holdings was Viña Santa Rita and the grounds adjoining the extensive, ornate gardens of the old Concha estate were vineyards of the prominent Maipo valley winery. In those days he used the house to entertain visitors of his varied enterprises. Don Ricardo passed away in 2008, and the home is now operated by Santa Rita as an intimate, 16-room boutique hotel, Casa Real. His estate has since constructed a stunning museum outside of the hotel property that displays his extensive collection of Andean art. This is museum is open to the public and free. Winery tours and tastings can be arranged for a fee through Santa Rita. The hotel and its gardens and the beautiful private chapel restored there are accessible only to hotel guests.

The management graciously accepted my request to bring my wife to see this special place, despite the fact that our schedule would not allow us to stay overnight. We were warmly welcomed as old friends and given a private tour of the entire property. We were the only guests for lunch that beautiful day, so the staff set up a table for us on the terrace overlooking the formal gardens. The food, the service, the setting, were all brilliant. The lunch was accompanied by a bottle of Santa Rita Casa Real Cabernet Sauvignon, one of my favorites since Don Ricardo introduced me to it there years ago and insisted on providing a bottle to take home.

The next stop on our wine tour came as we left the capital for the coast. We had a highly anticipated lunch (due to the rave review of one of my tennis partners back home who had eaten there a few weeks earlier) at Casas del Bosque which did not disappoint. A welcome surprise here was our first Chilean Syrah which we tried on the recommendation of our waiter. It was a 2015 Gran Reserva. Syrah is an upcoming red varietal for Chilean producers who are mostly known for Cabs and their specialty Carmenere. More on that later.

A hint for a visit to Casas del Bosque would be to consider going on a weekend day when they are serving at Casa El Mirador on the hill above the main complex. The space and setting are spectacular. Go hungry as they only do 5- or 6-course tasting menus. If you’re not that hungry at midday, stick to the a la carte restaurant below, but be sure to visit Casa El Mirador before or after.

Our only disappointment during our weeks in Chile was the few days we spent in Viña del Mar. Granted, the weather was cool, gray and damp, but even accounting for that, we agreed our time could have been in more appealing parts of the country. This is a place where many affluent Chileans have second homes, but the beach was not clean, and we found the shops and restaurants far below the level we found elsewhere in the country. The neighboring city of Valparaiso was fascinating, however. It was dirty, raunchy, and beautiful, well-worth a short visit, though maybe not an overnight stay when the country holds so much more to see.

Our next destination was an extraordinary one: the Atacama Desert. This trek began with a three-hour flight from Santiago north to Calama. All our in-country flights were done on LATAM. They are the biggest airline in South America and are part of the One World Alliance. They face several new domestic competitors that offer lower fares. The LATAM equipment was young (Airbus 321’s), the service was friendly and the flights were punctual. Service between Santiago and Calama is interesting. Because the mining industry that fuels Chile’s economy has many huge sites in the north, these flights are full of miners shuttling between home and work. There are now 16 flights per day between Santiago and Calama, a city of fewer than 140,000! On our return leg, which was full, my wife was the sole female passenger!

We were lucky in our choice of the pioneering Chilean adventure travel hotelier explora as our base (choice to use the lower case is theirs, not mine.) Our good fortune continued as we learned that the only other guest on the 90-minute drive from Calama to the charming oasis of San Pedro de Atacama was an engaging gentleman named Héctor Vergara. He is a master sommelier, one of only about 250 in the world and the only one in South America. He told us of his previous stints at Hotel Carillon Paris, Sutton House Toronto, and other hotspots around the world. He is now a global wine consultant and the explora group is one of his clients.

The Atacama is awesomely beautiful, way beyond our expectations. The landscape is surprisingly diverse—think Monument Valley, plus the Tetons. Tourism in this vast region is centered on San Pedro, a bustling village of among 8000 souls, built of red adobe. The dirt streets are teeming with backpackers and adventure enthusiasts. Visitors who can afford it opt for one the half dozen luxury resorts that provide all-inclusive experiences. We chose the oldest, explora, and were thoroughly impressed by it. The rooms, the amenities, the service, the food, the transfers to and from the airport were all top-notch. The most impressive features were the excursions and the guides who led them. While at first glance explora seems expensive (more than $1000/day for a couple), its rates are truly all-inclusive, and once we experienced first-hand the quality of the food and drinks and the outstanding excursions and guides, we agreed this is more than justified.

Stays at explora begin with a discussion with its activity director and staff to curate the range of experiences you will undertake. Guests’ interests, physical condition and altitude acclimatization (the hotel is at 8500 feet, about what one experiences in Aspen or Vail) are taken into account. Morning and afternoon excursions are available every day, with an intermission for a healthy lunch and a siesta at the gorgeous pool and spa complex. Our excursions included an exhausting uphill hike that was rewarded with a plunge in a natural thermal spring, a thrilling descent (in bare feet!) of a 500-foot-high sand dune after a crater rim walk/hike, an early morning walk through a geyser field above 14,000 feet, a sunset hike through a salt marsh and a horseback ride across the wide valley. Most of our excursions were private, just the two of us with a driver and a guide. All the guides and drivers were unfailingly warm and enthusiastic.

The food service was outstanding. Everything, including wine and bar drinks, is included, and it was all of top notch quality. Our new friend Hector offered his services as sommelier at our meals. At his urging, we tried a Sauvignon Gris one evening as an alternative to Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. His recommendation of the Casa Marin Estero Sauvignon Gris was spot on. Hector also agreed that Syrah is a real sleeper among Chilean reds. He highly recommended one that also came from Casa de Marin, the San Antonia Valley winery founded by María Luz Marín. Allie and I agreed the Casa Marin Litoral Vineyard Syrah was one of the best wines we drank during our time in Chile.

We regretted that in our planning we had opted not to visit the original explora location in the far southern Patagonia wilderness called Torres del Paine. We had been concerned that the winter weather would have already turned too cold and wet, though a newlywed couple from Mexico City we befriended at explora Atacama who had just come from there said they had enjoyed it immensely. In addition to these two mainland Chilean outposts, explora also operates hotels on Easter Island, a mysterious territory of Chile that lies more than 2000 miles away in the midst of the South Pacific and in the Sacred Valley of Chile. They plan to open their newest facility next year in Argentinian Patagonia.

From the driest desert on earth we flew to the greener south, again via Santiago to Puerto Montt, the northern frontier of Patagonia. Our southern explorations were done on our own, via a rental car. The roads were in excellent condition and well-signed—we had no problem finding our way. Our base was in Puerto Varas, a short drive of the larger Puerto Montt. We stayed at the Hotel Cumbres overlooking Lake Llanquihue.

Our first two days were overcast, but free of rain, so we focused on visiting several of the extraordinary national parks in the Lake District. These parks were often reachable only via long drives across unpaved roads, but well-worth the bumpy rides, with well-kept and marked trails. Another sight we were happy not to have missed was the spectacular Teatro del Lago, a concert hall situated on the shore of the lake in the town of Frutillar, a short drive north of Puerto Varas. We paid a visit at the insistence of our music-loving friend Victor despite the fact that there were no performances scheduled during our time there. The dramatic building itself and its setting across the lake from the iconic Osorno Volcano, must make for an awe-inspiring place to take in a concert.

Well-made pisco sours, using real egg whites, are available everywhere. Many bars charge slightly more if you specify Peruvian pisco over the local product. Our nightly routine at the Cumbres included a pisco in the lobby in front of the massive stone fireplace, listening to a local musician sing old pop tunes.

On our third morning there, we awakened to a cloudless sunrise and our first sight of the entire lake and the three volcanos that provide its backdrop. We knew this presented a special opportunity and quickly headed up the winding road that leads to the summit of the Osorno Volcano. This conical peak appears to be the identical twin of Mount Fuji in Japan. It rises to more than 8700 feet and last erupted over 200 years ago. We were the only passengers on the chair life ascending to the glacier-capped summit. Our frigid walk down was slowed by constant stops to photograph the spectacular panoramic views of the region and examine the unusual volcanic rocks on our path. The welcomed hot chocolate in the warming hut revived us for further adventures in the area that afternoon.

Our closing Chilean adventure was a venture to the island of Chiloe. This eccentric land to its own is known for its many picturesque churches, penguins, homes built on stilts, seafaring history and fiercely independent people. We enjoyed their crafts and architecture, as well as viewing a comical confrontation between some provocative children and an unamused and highly territorial South American sea lion at the fish market in Castro.

We returned home with my great affection for Chile renewed and Allie a new fan with a determination to return. With more to see in Santiago, more great wine to be discovered and the balance of remote southern Patagonia to be explored, we will need to budget several weeks for our next visit.