{"id":11211,"date":"2017-04-28T03:09:51","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T07:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=11211"},"modified":"2020-08-27T03:53:36","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T07:53:36","slug":"andes-santa-cruz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/andes-santa-cruz\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Andes to Santa Cruz"},"content":{"rendered":"
After crossing the Andes from Mendoza, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile, on horseback, it was time to settle into some business here in Chile. Carol and I headed south about 3 hours to the Colchagua valley and the town of Santa Cruz to explore the area and look at a couple farms as potential development communities. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Santa Cruz is a town of about 15,000 people centered on a shady plaza in the middle of town. As tradition would have it, the plaza features a fabulous church, the <\/span>Alcald\u00eda<\/span><\/i> (municipal offices), and some stores and restaurants.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We arrived on Saturday around noon and met Matt Ridgway, a British expat who sells farms and vineyards in the valley. \u00a0Together we enjoyed lunch at Casa Colchagua, a new restaurant owned by Chef Giovanna Vanni. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Carol ordered the salad, and I tried their unique take on <\/span>Plateada, <\/span><\/i>a slow cooked beef dish with a mashed potato cake sitting on top of the meat. The dish was served in a bowl and there was a tomato-based broth under the meat. The last few bites were almost like a stew, cleaning up the pieces of meat and potato at the bottom. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We spent the rest of the day with Matt, looking at two farms rich with vines of cabernet, merlot, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc grapes hanging in abundance. The farms also had hectares of fruit trees like apple, peach, and plum, as well as nut trees of almond and walnut. Countless wild blackberries and quince trees covered the hills around the farms.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n