Christmas fun: wine

What's the one thing Chile is probably most famous for in the UK? Ok, apart from its political history and the miners. The answer: wine of course! Chile has had a reputation for a few years now of producing decent wine at affordable prices. So with vineyards aplenty right outside Santiago, what better way to spend an afternoon than sampling the local export?

Enjoying a nice glass of Chilean red

Probably the most commercial of the wineries here is Concha y Toro. I'm sure many of you are familiar with its wine, as one of the company's biggest export countries just happens to be the UK. Located on the outskirts of Santiago, in a nice little village called Pirque, Concha y Toro has seen the potential in the tourist market and grabbed it.

The vineyard is set in some lovely grounds, its administrative base occupying what was once a summer house amid an English country garden of gently undulating hills, a boating lake, mature trees and roses. Beyond the country pile, the landscape gives way to acres of vines, spreading out towards the foothills of the Andes.

On our tour of the vineyard, we got to sample a beautifully fresh white from the new range 'Trio', which, unsurprisingly, is a blend of three grapes. We learnt how to taste wine properly, swirling the glass to release the flavour, giving it a good old nose, and then taking a sip. And it really did taste of green apples, just as our tour guide said it would! Thankfully, we didn't have to spit it out and were allowed to enjoy the rest of the glass as we ambled through the grounds.

Our tour concluded at the Casillero del Diablo - another of the company's famous brands - which is actually the cellar where the founder of Concha y Toro, Don Melchor, kept his best wines. Myths and legends abound in this place, but the highlight was the chance to taste one of the premium wines, the Don Melchor, a hearty, beefy red which left me a little wobbly as I tottered round the gift shop.