The lavender is truly bursting at the seams behind Claudio’s house, the Botacura Valley must be lavender heaven.
Courgettes and lettuce are now in full swing thanks to Claudio. The chicken wire covers work perfectly to protect against birds and rabbits…and there are hundreds of delicious sweet peas waiting to be eaten!
Claudio, with the help of quality control officer Manuela (pictured below), harvests the oregano to be dried for use all year round.
The first sourdough baguettes fresh out of the oven.
The vines on the parrón are growing very rapidly now that the sun is getting warmer and warmer, they creep over just at the right time to provide some much needed shade.
Claudio has been diligent as ever, which means the zucchini are already in full flowering mode, and the first crop of lettuce ready to be enjoyed!
The olive trees are covered in flowers, delicate white blossoms out to enjoy the Spring warmth.
Wild roses grow in every corner of Fundo Meza. They have a soft sweet fragrance that delights the senses very unexpectedly – they do not look like cultivated roses – from their bushy spot. End of Summer/Autumn the flower’s remains turn into rose hips or rosa mosqueta which are seed pods rich in nutrients with known healing qualities. The pink scented flowers are pictured here, you can just about make out the thorny branches of the bush which give away it’s rose origins.
Local Viticulturalist Andrés Sanchez is spear-heading two exciting new entrepreneurial pursuits for the Loncomilla Valley.
First up – Chile has very strict laws about importing agricultural goods, so the variety of grapes has been mainly limited to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenere, plus a few others. Andrés, along with his Italian partner Mauricio, has imported many new Italian varietals that aren’t widely available in Chile. As a winemaker he is keen to continue the increasing demand for Chilean wines so he is facilitating an expansion in the types of grape grown in Chile. He will plant hundreds of newly propagated vines, in multiple different Italian varietals in order to propagate and supply them to farmers in Chile.
To make sure the Italian vines have a rustic start, Monika has also moved from Italy to the Lancomilla Valley. Monika (pictured above) has her own propagation business in Italy where she manages 180 different varieties of vines, so she will ensure the Italian grapes are well looked after.
The initial row was planted last week and Monika baptised the new vines using some of Andrés’ home brew as well as a few words to acknowledge the luscious Chilean soil and natural world around.
Lichen grows on everything here and comes in all different forms. Many of the walks are through areas of wilderness that have been left for many years, it is so exciting to see nature in its untouched state
