Q and A
Wine Tours in Chile
Q.
Are there wine tours in Chile? -- Walter Tillow, Collingswood, N.J.
A.  Two wineries in central Chile, both within an hour's drive of Santiago, offer free tours. They are Concha y Toro and Undurraga, set in a rich valley with vineyards and fruit orchards. Concha y Toro, founded in 1883, actually has 10 vineyards throughout central Chile. Its showcase vineyard is at a former hacienda in Pirque, about 18 miles southeast of Santiago, and is open daily from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. and 3 to 6 P.M. A souvenir shop sells wine by the glass, and another shop, closed Monday, sells wine by the bottle. While tours are available in several languages, it is advisable to call at 850-1407 or 850-0007 to arrange for an English-speaking guide if you need one.
The Undurraga winery, founded in 1885, is in Talagante, 21 miles southwest of Santiago. It is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 A.M. to 3 P.M. Visitors are shown around by Pedro Undurraga, one of the owners, who is fluent in English. Visitors are shown the process of bottling and labeling.  There is also a visit to the winery's park, known for its variety of South American trees. The winery recommends a call a day ahead of a planned visit at 817-2346.
Travel companies in Santiago offer tours to the each winery (but not to both in one tour), by private car with a guide fluent in most languages. One company is Tour Service (696-0415). Its tour of the Concha y Toro winery also takes in the neighboring Cajon del Maipo region (the canyon of the Maipo River) in the lower slopes of the Andes. The cost is $57 for the car, which will hold up to four. One tour leaves Santiago at 9:30 A.M. and returns at around 2 P.M. Another leaves Santiago at 2 P.M. and returns by 6 P.M. The tour of the Undurraga winery costs about $61 and also includes a walk through Pomaire, known for its ceramics and other crafts. Two other Santiago companies with similar tours are Turismo Cocha (698-3341) and Expor Travel (698-5241). The Mystery of Point Baker
Q.
On an Aeroflot flight from Leningrad to Kiev our tickets were written as Leningrad-Point Baker. There was great confusion in Leningrad about Point Baker and we almost didn't get on the Kiev flight. No one I have asked since knows what Point Baker means. Is it some kind of code? -- Gloria Charney, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
A.  Point Baker is no code but a real place in southeast Alaska. It does have an airport, but gets flights from places like Ketchikan and Whale Pass, and certainly not from Leningrad. The probable explanation for Point Baker's appearing on your ticket lies in airport codes, the three-letter combinations that appear on luggage tags and are entered in computers when writing plane tickets.  Your flight from Leningrad was to one of Kiev's two airports, Borispol, code letters KBP. Point Baker's code is KPB. Your ticket was written by your travel agent, who may have transposed the last two letters. If she had, the computer would have printed Point Baker instead of Kiev on your ticket. Your agent said that your tickets, with a number of stops, were complicated, so she wrote the fares on them manually rather than using her computer. Therefore, the computer would not have indicated that Leningrad-Point Baker was unlikely or impossible. In any case, your name was on Aeroflot's list of passengers, and you did get to Kiev.  Scotland on Foot
Q.
We would like to take hikes in Scotland and spend nights in hotels or country inns. Do you know of companies that organize such hikes? -- Eugen E. Pacher, Pattenburg, N.J.
A.  There are a number of British companies that offer such walks in Scotland with overnight stays in inns, hotels, bed and breakfasts or even a castle. Luggage is usually moved from one lodging to the next by motor vehicle. Walks generally cover 8 to 14 miles a day; the difficulty varies, depending on the hilliness of the region and the condition of trails. Here are some of the companies. To call them from the United States, precede the number with 011-44. When calling within Britain, precede the area code (listed in parentheses) with a zero. Prices are per person based on two in a room and include lodging and, unless noted otherwise, all meals.
English Wanderer, 13 Wellington Court, Spencers Wood, Reading RG7 1BN, England; telephone (734) 882515. This company has three tours in Scotland: six nights in the Tweed Valley, for $850 (prices at $2 to the pound), starting June 1, Aug. 3 and Aug. 31, with two nights at each hotel; seven nights in the Scottish Highlands, using the same hotel throughout, starting June 22, July 13 and Sept. 7, for $1,064, and six nights on the Isle of Skye, starting June 29, July 20 and Sept. 14, $774. The second two can be combined.
Countrywide Holidays Association Birch Heys, Cromwell Range, Manchester, England M14 8HU; (61) 225 1000. This company owns a castle in Perth, and guests, who stay there, have a choice of two walks of 8 to 10 miles a day. The cost from Easter to May 25 is $378 a person a week or $57 a night; May 26 through September, $390 a week and $55.50 a night. There is a small charge for each walk. Last year a full week's worth was $36.
The Wayfarers, Braithwaite, Keswick, Cumbria, England CA12 5TN; (59682) 570, or 166 Thames Street, Newport, R.I. 02840; 401-849-5087. A six-night Scots Borders tour, about $1,360, leaves July 15 and Sept. 2. Lodging is in inns, bed and breakfasts or private homes.
British Coastal Trails, 150 Carob Way, Coronado, Calif. 92118; 800-473-1210 or 619-437-1211. This company has two Scotland tours, which can be combined. Each is seven nights, starting and finishing in Edinburgh, staying at inns and covering just six to seven miles a day: a tour along the border and into Northumberland, leaving May 25, July 6 and Aug. 31, and a Highlands tour, June 1, July 13 and Sept. 7. Each is $1,395 a person, which does not include lunch, usually taken at pubs along the way.
A map folder called "Walking," with a list of tour operators, can be obtained free at the British Tourist Authority, 40 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019. If requested by mail, enclose a self-addressed envelope with 45 cents postage.  Dining on Ortolan in France?
Q.
We are planning a trip to France. For years I have wanted to taste the game bird called ortolan. Which restaurants serve it? -- David Billings, Morristown, N.J.
A.  None. Ortolan is a tiny bird native to the southwest of France and are traditionally roasted and eaten in one bite, head, beak, bones and all. They are such a delicacy that their number has dwindled, and since 1979 the French Ministry of Environment has banned the hunting of ortolan.