From the National Geographic Endeavour in South America, 3/12/2006, National Geographic Endeavour
Max Morales
PR & Communications Evangelist | Climate Change Initiatives | Former Wine Specialist of National Geographic Explorer | Veteran's Business Coach
Found this text that I wrote in 2006 from the National Geographic Endeavour Expedition Ship
Wine Tasting From Chilean & Argentinean Wines Aboard
During this incredible experience of crossing amongst the fjords, walking inside forests, and Zodiac and kayaking; the Pacific Ocean wines from Chile and Argentina were carefully tasted to show the great variety of both sides of the Andes Mountains.
Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carmenere, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay from outlying areas of these two wine countries were tried in an interactive tasting led by Max Morales, the wine specialist that started this adventure from the beginning in Ushuaia.
The guests participated in several tastings during the trip and enjoyed the flavors of intense and complex wines that helped them to identify the basic concepts of wine tasting while they used a tasting note to rate the wines.
Some of the comments from the passengers were: “These wines just are great,” “Never thought that Chile or Argentina could produce this incredible wines,” “give me the address of the winery to visit it while I wait for my airplane back home in Santiago.”
Chile was represented by AguaTierra (Limari Valley), Casa Marin (San Antonio Valley), Santa Cruz, Laura Hartwig & Hacienda Los Lingues (Colchagua Valley), Laroche (Elqui and Leyda Valley) and Cavas Submarinas (Itata Valley). Argentina was represented by Familia Zuccardi, Tapiz and Dona Paula (Mendoza Area) and Familia Schroeder & Noemia de Patagonia (From Neuquen and Rio Negro).
Gillian Dennis, one of the expedition leaders, took the experience to another level when suggested to take one bottle near an actual iceberg close to Pio XI Glacier.
Then, she did it with a couple of passengers in her Zodiac and they enjoyed her smile while holding a Pinot Noir/Carmenere bottle of an underwater cellaring wine from Cavas Submarinas from the south of Chile.
Finally, we can definitely say that Lindblad Expeditions is always thinking about giving the guests the best of the best and this includes fantastic wines from the “end of the world.”
Guests were pleased to learn that Chile and Argentina are producing excellent and very competitive reds and whites that will be searched for in the local wine stores from each one of them to say with their friends, “I felt the experience of the Andes Wines.”Good Grapes from South America!