After your hotel pick up, you set out on the one-hour drive to the largest privately-owned alpaca farm in Chile, Quintessence Alpacas, the “Soft Secret of Chile!” With more than 25 years of experience, Quintessence is to date the only vertically-integrated alpaca company in the world.
This family business is dedicated to the fine breeding, exporting, and manufacturing of the best alpaca and alpaca fiber, as well as to the rescue and preserve all of the beautiful natural colors that alpacas have to offer.
Alpacas are members of the South American “camelid” family along with the vicuña, guanaco and llama. Their trajectory from Asia has been traced to crossing the Bearing Strait, Canada, USA, Mexico, Peru and arriving to Chilean Patagonia and Argentina more than 10,000 years ago.
Alpacas are 100% ecological and gentle to the environment. They are small, intelligent, and friendly. They consume small quantities of water and food. Their hooves are soft with cushions which allow them to walk on any terrain without causing damage to soil. Alpacas never over graze. They are adaptable to different environments.
Alpaca is a natural fiber, free of oils like lanoline. Immediately after being shorn it can be washed with natural soaps and processed without the use of any chemicals. With its more than 32 natural tones, the alpaca fiber offers the best alternative against chemical dyes.
The visit will include a video presentation providing an overview of the farm and the alpaca. You will have an opportunity to feed the alpacas and touch their fine fibers. You will also visit the facility’s garment factory and fibers mill. The tour will end in the boutique where you can browse the many fabulous creations made with the finest alpaca fibers in the world!
Next stop, we visit Sanchez de Loria Vineyard for a winery tour and wine tasting. The Sanchez de Loria family descends from Don Jose Teodoro Sanchez de Loria, who arrived in Chile in 1785, appointed by the King of Spain to serve as a judge in the Royal Colonial Court. His grandson, Enrique Sanchez Faulkner founded the winery in 1890, convinced of the exceptional quality of the Aconcagua Valley terroir. He planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Torontel vines, making them one of the oldest grape varieties in the Aconcagua Valley and in Chile. Since then, the winery has remained in the family, who has maintained the values of originality, quality, and tradition from generation to generation, positioning their wines at the highest quality standards.
After the winery tour and wine tasting there will be time for lunch, if desired, at the rustic countryside restaurant Juan y Medio, an old monastery where the Catholic monks used to make wine. Otherwise, you will return to your hotel.
On the return to Santiago, on a clear day, you will see views of Mount Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, at 22,838 feet (6,961 meters) above sea level.