the Kulenko Chile project
written by Jackie Marie Seitz and Luis
Cortes
Una excelente vendimia vivimos del 12 al 14 de Abril. Nuevamente nos acompañó un buen clima, buena comida y el calor de la fogata. Abrazos para todos los que participaron en esta gran fiesta.
We now have the date for the biggest festival of the year in Kulenko - the annual grape harvest! Mark your calendars…
Don Chito was walking around in the Vineyard this morning and found a beautiful gift from the earth, grapes! Come to the annual grape harvest in April and meet them.
This basket is full of our season fruit: apples, grapes, quinces and figs. For sure your can try them in April during the grape harvest!
Are you planning to travel and want to learn about nature?
Would you like to wake up to birdsong in the morning?
Are you trying to improve your Spanish? Would you like to learn Spanish while working on the land?
Do you like to cook? Would you like to learn how to prepare traditional Chilean…
A beautiful Long-tailed Meadowlark (Loica) visiting us.
Primo Tavi made this wooden toy airplane, which reveals the power of the wind in Kulenko’s future. Soon we will begin the plans to install a windmill.
Don Luis attended his first Workshop for Organic Vineyard Management, located in San Javier, Maule Region, after contacting the Programa de Difusión Tecnológica en Vitivinicultura Orgánica (Technology in Organic Vineyards Dissemination Program) and being accepted to participate in a series of workshops and classes.
Don Luis called the experience very satisfactory, and said the workshop leaders were excellent. This is a long-anticipated step for the Kulenko project, and we hope to be able to share the fruits of this new knowledge soon.
May 5-6 2012
We enjoyed a nice winter weekend with great company in Kulenko. We tasted the wine from the recent grape harvest, and stored it in large earthenware containers sealed with wood and clay. The wine will be “uncorked” in September for the Independence Day celebrations and next year’s grape harvest in April. We planted two avocado trees and a magnolia near the house, walked through the garden, enjoyed a spectacular tortilla de rescoldo (a large, circular loaf of bread, cooked in the embers of a fire), and sang karaoke. Sunday afternoon surprised us with a giant rainbow.
Our friend Eli writes about her experience in the 2012 Kulenko grape harvest, and shares some excellent photos - including this one:
The 2012 Vendimia in Kulenko, Chile
April 13-15
The 2012 grape harvest in Kulenko was a success - a total of 58 people traveled down to the vineyard near Cauquenes, Region de Maule, with plenty of enthusiasm to help with the task at hand.
This year, we managed to pick all the grapes on Saturday, and loaded up most of the harvest on the Cooperative’s truck that same afternoon - leaving a dozen or so baskets of grapes for ourselves.
At night, we enjoyed the show put on by host Don Chito, who riled up the crowd and organized the elections for best canastero and the new Queen of the Vendimia. Ramón took the prize for canastero, and María Quiroga was crowned this year’s queen, to much applause.
On Sunday, we hand-squeezed more than 20 baskets of the black pais grape, and stored the juice inside one of the huge, clay tinajas that Luis’ grandfather used to make wine in the 60’s. A few brave souls stepped into an oak barrel and squished grapes with their feet, which will be used to make the traditional Chilean fermentation chicha.
Sunday evening, we returned home, grateful for the weekend’s beautiful weather, delicious home-cooked food and the buena onda of hard work and good company.
We now have the date for the biggest festival of the year in Kulenko - the annual grape harvest! Mark your calendars…
March 10 and 11, 2012
