B O C A N Á R I Z
Bocanáriz was created as Chile’s first wine bar. The name came from putting together the two senses that do most of the work when drinking wine: boca (mouth) and nariz (nose). The accent on the á was added purely for phonetic reasons, making the two words come together naturally as one. Sometimes the name is sitting right in front of you.
Of course, that left the other senses feeling rather neglected. El sentido de los sentidos was created as a small tribute to them, bringing ojo, oreja and dedo into the picture. The joke goes a little further with El Ojo Dedo: if instead of being a wine bar it were a voyeur’s bar, that is probably what it would have been called.
There was a fair amount of humour throughout the place. Two old thermometers hanging on the wall were given a new purpose: rather than measuring temperature, they measured the state you might find yourself in after a few glasses—from boring and totally drunk to silly, happy and eventually cool. The other offered a wine to suit the occasion.
The idea was to take some of the ceremony out of wine without taking away the knowledge and respect behind it. Perhaps the line that best sums up Bocanáriz is also the simplest:
Enjoy our wines and share with friends.
