But what if I told you that the marble cathedrals are nothing but rocky caverns caused by erosion? Perhaps it would not make sense. Well, this incredible and magnificent cathedral is located in the Chilean Patagonia.

To view this incredible natural formation, simply travel to the region of Aisen and take a small boat in Puerto Tranquilo. After sailing for 10 minutes through the second largest lake in South America, General Carrera, you will meet these enormous formations of solid marble rock. They emerge from the lake where the white color of their caves contrast the turquoise colored waters.

At first glance it seems to be a series of islands that have been eroded over the years by the lake. However, as the boat approaches, you can see the cavities generated by erosion, creating the illusion that huge marble columns are responsible for keeping up the “cathedral.”

If the lake level is low, small boats and kayaks can enter and drive many of the mazes generated by this rock formation. Generally, they can be visited throughout the whole year, since the area is characterized by a rather favorable microclimate.

Picture: lart76

Here are some ideas to achieve a perfect combination:

Frontera Chardonnay:
It is characterized for being a fruity wine of intense yellow color. On your palate you can distinguish a slight sweetness, making it an excellent choice for seasoned seafood like scallops and abalones, white-fleshed fish, chicken and turkey, quiches, salads with strong-flavored ingredients, vegetable soufflé, beef Carpaccio, guacamole and fruits such as apples and pears.

Frontera Sauvignon Blanc:
This wine is fresh, light and explosive. With an intense aroma of ripe fruit and a touch of chili. This wine, slightly yellow, is an excellent pairing for shellfish and raw fish (ceviche), cooked seafood, paella, eel stew, goat cheese and fresh cheese, Chinese food, salads and cooked vegetables.

Frontera Late Harvest:
This wine is pretty special, because it is made from white grapes (just like white wine), but these are harvested late to give a sweet taste with touches of honey, ideal for sharing a cocktail or to accompany desserts and fresh fruits. It is also perfect to pair with raw ham & melon, cakes, blue cheese, chocolate desserts and foie gras.

After this long journey through Chile, we finally arrive to southern Patagonia. Its fjords and channels generate a series of mazes where the Andes merge from the sea causing the creation of small islands. You can also find an extensive area of overwhelming glaciers and snowfields that are a major global reservoir of fresh water.

Getting to this area is not easy and that’s why Patagonia has become an excellent geographic barrier, as it is characterized as a sparsely populated and exploited, enabling it to maintain its nature intact throughout time.

The simplest way to get there is by air to the city of Punta Arenas and, from there, take a tour to the channels. Another possibility is to go on a cruise through the fjords.

The most popular destination is the Última Esperanza fjord, which can be sailed from Puerto Natales and that reaches the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers. There is also the San Rafael Lagoon glacier with a summit of 70 meters (230 feet). You can only get there by sea.

To warm the cold southern nights, wine Frontera Carmenere Shiraz is an excellent choice to share with loved next to the heat of a fireplace. In this way you can enjoy the freshness of southern Patagonia with the warmth of a Frontera wine.

For centuries the Aymara culture decided to keep secret a couple of locations in the north which weren’t show non maps until recent times. One of them is Laguna Roja. As its name says, it looks like a pond full of blood and it is located in the town of Carmiña (Iquique) 3,500 meters above sea level, approximately.

The reason why it was kept secret was because it was believed to have cursing powers. That’s why it was prohibited to come near the lagoon or drinking its water. The legend tells that some people have mysteriously disappeared after drinking its reddish water (which is also said to represent the Devil’s evil powers). In the case of Laguna Roja, its reddish color is explained by the number of red algae that lie on its bottom. Anyway, its true depth is still undetermined. In addition, near Laguna Roja there are two sister lagoons which are said, just like Laguna Roja, to bubble if approached by those who are not welcomed. Anyway, the true reason of their bubbles is that the three of them are warm waters.

Regardless of all the mysticism surrounding these lagoons, there is no doubt that it is a magical place that you should definitely visit. Its desert landscape makes it even more attractive and the large number of mysteries around Laguna Roja make it a very interesting an mystical experience.

To get there, you must always be joined by someone who really knows the area and be respectful of the place, as it is revered by the Aymara culture.

*Imágen: Bruno Arcos

Chile is a sea country, there’s no doubt about it. Its shores are washed from north to south by the Pacific Ocean which has allowed a major tourism development throughout the country. This time we’ll focus on the V region, specifically in the area of the Cordillera de la Costa where the La Campana National Park is. This place is considered a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO since 1985, due to its 8,000 hectares where the last Chilean palm forests grow.

This is an ideal place for trekking lovers, as the trails are marked so that people do not have any problems. Anyway, there’s always someone who deviates from the route and gets lost. It never hurts to be well equipped and carry with you enough water to be ready for the unexpected, especially if there are walks that last between six and seven hours to get to the park’s heart. If there is no hurry and you want to spend more than a day in the reserve, there are 23 enabled picnic and overnight camping areas where you will be able to tour the place. Plus, regarding you’ll be near the ocean, you must consider eating some seafood. It is therefore important to take your time to enjoy a “paila marina” or some “chupe de mariscos”, which can be accompanied with a glass of cold Frontera Rosé or Frontera Sauvignon Blanc to cool coastal evenings.

* For those who want to discover the wonders of the Parque Nacional La Campana, we recommend you visit the official site of CONAF (www.conaf.cl) to determine which routes are well equipped to better organize the trip.

Many people are becoming more interested in achieving pairings that are able to combine and enhance the qualities of each product. Here are some hints and tips to achieve excellent results when mixing food and wine:

Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon:
This wine is characterized by a fruity and harmonius taste. You will be able to feel plums and a touch of vanilla. This strain goes well with grilled red meats, as well as beef interiors and kidneys. It is an excellent choice for Asian meals such as Thai, or rich seasonings like garlic and onions.

Frontera Carmenere:
This wine is characterized by its intense ruby red color with violet tones. Its plum and chocolate aroma will definitely make your senses wake up.

To avoid missing any details of its flavor, this strain is an excellent choice for beef, lamb and chicken sauce prepared with merken, curry or ginger. It is also a great option for Thai and Mexican food.

For those who love appetizers, the Carmenere is a good alternative to enjoy with a salami and ham table.

Frontera Shiraz:
Its delicate touch of pepper, dark color and blackberry and black plum aroma, instantly transforms this beverage into an excellent choice when having large gatherings and a barbecue with varied cheese platters. Also you may want to try this with pasta and tomato sauce or beef stew.

Frontera Merlot:
It is a smooth and fresh wine of intense ruby color that combines very well with all kinds of stews, such as corn pie, and well-seasoned vegetables. It is also an excellent choice for all types of fatty seafood, such as crab cakes and seafood stew. Also combines well with white meats, meat-stuffed pasta, parmesan cheese and herbs, brie and camembert cheese.

The Andes mountain chain is characterized for being an overwhelming geographical barrier that is present throughout the country. Thanks to it, Chile has enough clean water supply to irrigate crops, which also are protected from neighboring countries pests. It acts like a real insulation wall.

Also, the Andes chain has become a major tourist attraction thanks to its rich flora and fauna. Trails and parks are popular destinations for tourists, offering series of activities designed to suit all tastes.

National Reserve Radal Siete Tazas is located in the mountain slopes of Maule Region. There you can see an incredible sequence of waterfalls known as the Seven Cups. There is also some extreme activities ideal for kayaking enthusiasts willing to face the currents of the Claro river course and enjoy the beauty of the Bridal Veil, a waterfall of 60 meters tall.

In the Reserve you can also find excellent climbing areas such as Los Altos del Lircay, where you can find a large area of native forests. If you like horseback riding and hiking, you can go for a walk to the volcanoes Descabezado Grande (”The beheaded big one”) and Quizapu.

In the valleys of the Maule River, you can witness the birth of Frontera wines, as there are the vineyards responsible for strains as the Carmenere, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabertet Blush, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot Rosé and Chardonnay.

If you love nature and being surrounded by native forest, Huilo-Huilo reserve, located in the Los Rios Region, provides an excellent alternative.

However, to live imbued with the environment you don’t necessarily have to spend a nuisance, since in this reserve there are two luxury hotels that easily blend in with its surroundings. One of them is the Baobab Hotel, a construction that emulates the African baobab tree, respected for his long life. Inside the hotel grows a Chilean native tree that is located in the center.

This place is characterized for being a building that does not transgress the environment but lives in harmony with it, surrounded by Chilean native trees as raulí, coigüe and mañío.

The hotel is seven stores high, has 55 rooms and each one has a privileged view. But that’s not all, because few meters away you can find the Magic Mountain Lodge Hotel, which as the name suggests, is a cone construction that looks like a volcano. Its walls are made of stone and the top squirts water to form a waterfall that runs along the side of the hotel.

A gallery that is utilized to expose valuable works of art connects both hotels. However, if you are looking for adventure, you can also move from one hotel to another through a suspension bridge.

Here visitors can witness how luxury coexists with nature without affecting the environment while enjoying all the wonders of this amazing place.

* Photos: www.huilohuilo.cl

Barrier No. 1: Northern Chile

Northern Chile is the ideal setting for growing grapes for white wine making, because you need a clay soil and a sunny climate. A wine that’s excellent in this area is the Frontera Late Harvest, because its production requires all the climatic and geographical properties offered by the Chilean north. However, this is also a very visited region by tourists because it has one of the clearest skies in the world. For this reason you can find various astronomical observatories, especially in the fourth region.

That’s why this area has developed Astronomical Tourism, where tourists can visit these research centers and observe space at any time of the year, thanks to the amazing weather conditions and the high quality and clarity of the skies, recognized worldwide. It is said that in one year you can see the space for 300 days, an argument that confirms the pure quality of the sky.

No matter how old you are or whether you are knowledgeable on the subject, this is an activity for any person who is interested in discovering the mysteries that the universe offers.
That’s why they have developed different tourist tours of observatories and here we tell you a few:

- If you’re in Antofagasta, you can visit for free the observatory located on Paranal Hill.

- If you’re in La Serena you can visit the Municipal Observatory Cerro Mamalluca, Cerro Mayu Observatory and Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory.

- If you’re enjoying the tranquility of the Elqui Valley, you can go to SOAR Observatory (Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Reaserch).

- If you visit Andacollo, you can stop going to the Municipal Observatory Collowara.

* In all cases it is important to call to reserve a time to visit.

In restaurants is the person responsible for guiding customers on what wines are better complement for your meal. They are also responsible for uncorking, the wine tasting and serving, as well as monitor and control their maintenance, the placement, and training personnel, among other responsibilities.

Still others are devoted to write reviews on the subject. In short, you could say it’s a fairly broad job where exhaustive knowledge of the vine and the vineyard is key.

But this word is not always associated with wine specialists. During the Middle Ages the sommelier was the person responsible for guiding animals that carried the wine and other foods, since, etymologically speaking, this word comes from the French word some, which means load.

However, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this term and its meaning evolved to Sommier du Seigneur, who referred to those privileged individuals who should keep and maintain proper food of the lords.

Since the nineteenth century the sommelier began to relate only to the world of wine and have a presence in all restaurants and exclusive hotels in Paris. Although only in the twentieth century this function began to become known worldwide as the profession it is today