On Saturday we were up early for a tour of the Colchagua Valley, home to more than thirty vineyards, and the heart of Chile’s ‘wine country’. We were driven by bus the two hours to San Fernando, where we boarded a 1915 vintage train for a tour of the valley. On the ‘Tren Del Vino” (Wine Train) we were treated to a 41 kilometer trip to Santa Cruz while experiencing the ‘Huaso’ (Countryman) culture of the central area of Chile. On the train we were served a wide selection of complimentary Chilean wine and cheeses to stimulate our palates. Needless to say we disembarked the train after ‘too many’ samples and were glad we were not responsible for the driving. In Santa Cruz we visited the Colchagua Museum to soak up some additional culture and had a hearty lunch before our next stop which was the magnificent Casa LaJoya winery of the Bisquertt family vineyards. Our tour included, of course, the compulsory wine tasting and even thought the region is known for it’s red wines, the cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah, we reaffirmed our liking of the carmenere red and purchased several bottles to take home. We arrived back in Santiago, quite late in the evening, had a quick bite to eat in the hotel lobby bar and had pleasant dreams after a particularly great day.