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The Route
of the Wine of the Colchagua Valley, in the Sixth
Region, is the first tourist circuit about wine created in
Chile in 1996. To speak of Chile, of its history and of its
culture, it is to speak of the wine, of its quality and good
flavor. Of the white, the red and of their prizes in the international
scene. |
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| The Colchagua Valley
is watered by the river Tinguiririca, of which fertile
valleys arise where the vineyards find an ideal place
to grow. It is a clearly agricultural zone inhabited by
people of diverse origin: peasants, merchants, managers
and traditional families of old lineage. |
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| Their center is
in the city Santa Cruz which
has become the center of wine growing: a traditional activity
of the central area and that has given fame to our country
in the whole world. |
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Viu Manent vineyard |
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Vines |
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Ageing wines |
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| Colchagua, which
in indigenous language means "valley of small
lagoons", is the land where the hunting
tribe of the Chiquillanes lived, the most warlike and
hardened of the Mapuche nation. This tribe was conquered
by the Incas in the 15th century, who established in this
valley the southern limit of their large empire. The first
pre-Hispanic irrigation works were built by the Incas,
introducing in this way the agriculture to the Valley
of Colchagua. |
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| By the middle of
the 16th century, together with the discovery of America
and the Spanish Conquest of Chile, the Jesuit missionaries
introduced the first vineyards in Chile, necessary for
the production of wine for the mass. These vineyards were
set up near the coast, in the Jesuit Mission in Pichilemu.
This would mark the beginning of vine growing in the Colchagua
Valley. |
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| Together with the
colonization in the 16th century, the haciendas are settled
in the Valley, covering large land extensions, which the
King of Spain gave to his most distinguished officers,
being the lands of Colchagua the most wanted for their
climate, ideal for agriculture and cattle raising. |
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| These lands were
the scenario where the Republic of Chile was forged. In
1810 Chile became independent of Spain and since then
the more traditional families acquired lands in this Valley
and built wonderful mansions which are there until now.
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| By the middle of
the 19th century, the introduction of fine French vine
stocks begins in Chile, coming from the area of Bordeaux.
The first vineyards with these vine stocks in the Colchagua
valley were founded in 1870, what finally marked the vineyards
supremacy in this area. |
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| For many years,
the wines produced in Colchagua were bought by the big
bottling companies established in Santiago, in the Maipo
Valley. By the end of the 1980s, the producers in Colchagua
participated in the Chilean wines exporting boom, introducing
the latest technology necessary for the production of
world class wines, starting the commercialization and
directly exporting their wines to the most demanding international
markets. |
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| At the present
time, the Valley of Colchagua is leader in the production
of fine wines in Chile and is the area with more international
projection. |
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| The Museum
of Colchagua is a construction of the classic
Chilean tradition. It overflows with objects of different
nature, from prehistoric pieces of insects conserved in
amber to remains of animals of great size, decorations
and utensils of primitive settlements in the region and
other Latin American regions. There are setup scenarios
to travel to the colonial, pre Hispanic and prehistoric
past, to imagine our ancestors in varied scenes of their
life. There plows also weapons of different cheats, wardrobes,
cars, carriages, old agricultural machinery and even a
complete steam train that includes locomotive and passengers
car, one of the first to arrive in Chile. |
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| The Train
of the Wine is the time machine that takes us
to a time where the train was the main means of transport,
looking for emotions and experiences at the beginning
of the 20th century. The journey begins in San Fernando
city and takes 90 minutes to arrive in Santa Cruz, skirting
the main vineyards of the Valley of Colchagua. During
the journey a tasting of wines is served, accompanied
by an abundant cocktail, and a great Chilean folklorist
delights us with his/her songs and payas. |
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| The Train of the
Wine travels at a speed of 30 to 40 km/h. The train is
from the beginnings of the 20th century and is formed
by a steam locomotive type 57, N°607, (one of the
last models built in Chile in the year 1913) fueled mainly
by coal, a dining room passengers car, type Y-19 (with
capacity for 40 people, built in Germany in the year 1923
for the company Linke Hoffman that arrived in Chile in
the year 1929) and three passengers cars, types I-203,
I-264 and I-199, with capacity for 80 passengers (built
by the same company). |
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