Educational Practicum: Concha Y Toro Winery

Ok, I admit that this blog post might not appear to be about an educational experience, but I assure you it is! Last week, Mary Goss escorted our group first to the Concha Y Toro primary production plant and then onto the Wine Tasting Tourist Center so we could get first-hand insights into a huge Chilean export: Wine. Chile is the fifth most imported country when it comes to wine--so it was important that we get some hands-on experience with this industry.
Concha Y Toro is the largest winery in Chile, is among the top 10 wineries in the world., is the first winery to be listed on the NYSE. They own 15,000 acres of vineyards throughout Chile, and are a huge player in the global market. It was extremely interesting to see the huge facility where they produce much of their win--on the tour they walked us through the process of getting the grapes from the field (where they are cut from the stems by hand) and into the barrels for aging. At the tourist facility, we were given access to the Casillero del Diablo cellar, which is haunted by the devil as legend has it. This brand sells 300,000 cases in the US every year.
Here are some pictures from the day:

The two funniest things that happened during the trip:
1. A little pig got loose in the parking lot and the security guards were trying to catch it -- fun to watch!
2. We had a little rap video shoot on the bus complete with a reggae tone music video on the TV...