Montes Wines are produced from vineyards surrounding Chile’s capital city, Santiago. With influences from the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the grapes Montes cultivates in the Apalta Valley around Santa Cruz are recognized to be of extraordinary quality. Montes and Montes Alpha wines are sold in over 100 countries around the world.
The four partners who make up the founding Montes team — Aurelio Montes, Douglas Murray, Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand — designed their winery according to the principles of feng shui, giving it an Asian influence and an atmosphere of tranquility. Grapes are processed by hand on the building’s roof and moved into fermentation tanks by gravity, rather than pumps, in keeping with a philosophy of minimal processing. Aging takes place in 800 new French oak barrels arranged in a semicircle in the center of the building.
Montes Winery produces many varietals at several price points for every wine drinker, from the legendary Montes Alpha cabernet to the ultra-premium limited-release Alpha M line of wines. Here are some of our favorites.
Montes Classic Series This includes cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, merlot and, of course, malbec. Any of these varietals would make an excellent choice, as they are all well-balanced and well-structured with soft tannins and an elegant finish.
Twins Red Blend An affordable and approachable entry into the Montes brand of wine is the Twins Red Blend, produced of grapes from two different vineyards that combine four different varietals: cabernet, syrah, tempranillo and carmenere. With structure and complexity from the cab, the freshness of the tempranillo, the silkiness of the syrah and the intensity of the carmenere, you get an exceptional wine to drink now or put in the cellar for the next six years.
Montes Alpha These wines are a step up and come in varietals, including cabernet, carmenere and syrah. The palate on these wines is well-balanced, with rich acidity, incredibly smooth tannins, tremendous structure, a full mouthfeel and a long finish. The affordability of these high-quality wines is striking, as they have received 93-plus scores over the last few years.
Montes Purple Angel For a truly special occasion, consider the Montes Purple Angel. This gem is made from the Bordeaux grape carmenere, presumed extinct in France after a fungus epidemic in the 1800s killed off most of the vines. It resurfaced in Chile in the 1990s, and Montes uses it to create a varietal that critics have called “a wine from another planet.”
Montes Alpha M CabernetAnd when money is no object, the Montes Alpha M Cabernet, which received an impressive 98 points, is a very limited release because it is only made when Mother Nature and the head winemaker agree with one another to produce a wine of the highest standard.
