I recently took a trip to the beautiful country of Chile to backpack with my best friend. We traveled over 4,000 miles of the country by foot, bus, car, and plane. We spent our week sightseeing, enjoying local cuisine, meeting other travelers, sleeping in hostels, and hiking. The highlight of the trip was spending two days in Patagonia, where we saw penguins, glaciers, waterfalls, caves, mountains, and lakes the color of Tiffany’s blue.
One of the things that Chile is best known for is their wine. Interestingly enough, Chile was not able to start producing wine until the last 1980’s due to politics. The climate is perfect for wine growing in the 2,700 mile long country, since the land is fertile and the air is bug free. In 1995, Chile had 12 different wineries, and now today there are over 120. They are the 5th largest exporter of wine in the world, and the 9th biggest producer. The most common grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and my personal (new) favorite, the Carmenere.
Not only was I impressed with the wine, but also with the design of the logos and bottles. I selected several that I really liked due to their hand drawn quality. I really like the fluidity of the drawings, and how it is reminiscent of wine.
My best friend is now teaching English in Chile for the next two years, so hopefully I will have another opportunity to experience the landscape and wine of Chile again soon!
- Natalie
