Montes Winery in Chile’s beautiful Colchagua Valley is a “must see” destination for wine tours. And a variety of other fascinating reasons.
Chile, hand in hand with neighboring Argentina, are two of the best-known wine regions of South America.
The long, narrow shape of this South American country borders the cool Pacific Ocean to the west, the snow-capped Andes Mountains to the east, the dry Atacama Desert to the north, and the south.
Chile and Argentina, are two of the best-known wine regions of South America.
Colchagua Valley is one of the most prestigious of Chile’s red wine regions. It lies in Chile’s Central Valley, about five hours south of the capital city, Santiago, by car.
Beyond the warm Mediterranean climatic influence, Colchagua’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean provides a beneficial cooling effect to the sun’s afternoon.
Cool evening temperatures extend the growing season so that grape berries develop ripeness while keeping acidity.
Within the Colchagua Valley lies Apalta, the largest and best known of Chile’s Denominaciónes de Origen (DO) appellations north of the town of Santa Cruz.
Like other highly respected appellations in wine-producing regions of the world with unique terroir, the “DO” on a Chilean wine label ensures quality. It also tacitly verifies a minimum of 85 percent of the grapes come from the region showed on the label.
At last count, 1,007 hectares of land remain under vine in the Apalta DO. Key grape varieties here include Cabernet Sauvignon, Carménère, Syrah, and Malbec.
Aurelio Montes, founder of Montes Winery, is a pioneer of the region. A trained enologist, Apalta first caught his eye when he visited the then-barren region in his twenties.
In the 1990s he could finally buy Apalta land and plant the vines. Aurelio Montes soon discovered which grape varieties grew best in Apalta, and where to plant them.
In the 1990s he could finally buy Apalta land and plant the vines.
“We’ve been working since the ’90s to achieve a Denominaciónes de Origen (DO) for Apalta,” says Aurelio Montes Jr., of his Montes winery. Along with the neighboring Lapostolle winery, Montes Winery spearheaded the DO campaign.
To win the campaign, Montes Winery and Lapostelle needed to prove that the horseshoe-shaped Apalta Valley has extraordinary conditions for certain grapes.
I first met Aurelio Montes and his son, Aurelio Montes Junior (now running the Montes winery) in 2007 when the two men visited Manhattan.
Specialized Chilean regions such as Apalta were just then earning fame for high-quality red wines. The bulk of lesser Chilean wine found its way to the USA and UK at low prices, yet offering good value for the money.
Specialized Chilean regions such as Apalta were just then earning fame for high-quality red wines.
Today, 13 years later, the Montes brand enjoys global fame for iconic red wines. And the architecturally gorgeous Montes winery is a “must visit” attraction when visiting Chile.
I caught up with Aurelio Montes Junior today for a virtual tasting of four of his wines. And I was also lucky enough to visit the Montes Winery in Apalta in early March 2020, before the pandemic.
One can describe the architecture of the Montes Winery as minimalistic. Some visitors feel it has a certain “Feng Shui” quality.
The Montes winery blends well into the natural topography of this mountainous region with its clear blue, sunny skies.
Some visitors feel Montes Winery has a certain “Feng Shui” quality.
A refreshing horizontal-shaped pool of water greets visitors as they approach the Montes winery. Once inside the reception area, visitors see the familiar icon of the “purple angle” that is the Montes Logo.
The Montes winery offers gorgeous floor-to-ceiling views of the mountains and vineyards from almost every room.
During my visit, I particularly enjoyed seeing all the memorabilia in the form of framed pictures of the Aurelio Montes Winery family from the 1980s.
It was also a pleasure to visit the wine barrel aging room and hear its soundtrack of Gregorian Chant (presumably to calm the wines).
in the barrel room, you can hear Gregorian Chant soothing the wines …
When booking a day tour, guests can also make a reservation for lunch at the Montes winery restaurant, called Fuegos de Apalta.
This lovely restaurant offers an assortment of dishes (also vegetarian and gluten-free) with views overlooking the Apalta hillsides and vineyards.
As a VIP guest, I enjoyed the unique experience of a jeep ride through the vineyard and a private lunch with these iconic wines.
The Montes Winery restaurant offers views overlooking the Apalta hillsides and vineyards.
Aurelio Montes Junior conducted the virtual tasting on behalf of Montes Winery, along with Gustavo Hormann, winemaker at the Montes-owned Kaiken winery.
The word Kaiken means “bird” and this winery is in Argentina’s Lujan de Cujo, west of the Mendoza Province of Argentina.
Montes Winery Wines
The Montes wine includes the 2017 Purple Angel and the 2018 Montes Alpha Carménère.
The Purple Angel 2017 is a deep red wine, 97% Carménère.
It has aromas of pronounced blackberry and blueberry fruit, along with smoke/toast notes from aging 18 months in French oak.
A delicious and even decadent wine, full-bodied, that can improve with a decade of age.
The 2018 Montes Alpha Carménère is complex with more spice and velvet tannins.
The Kaiken Winery Wines
The two wines from Kaiken Winery included the 2016 Kaiken Mai Malbec, very rich, from vineyards in Vistalba, Mendoza.
This wine ages in French oak for 18 months–a dark, dense, delicious wine.
The 2018 Kaiken Ultra comes from high altitude vineyards, giving it fresh acidity, and spends a year in French oak barrels.
Getting to the Montes Winery
International flights land in Santiago, Chile.
It is necessary to make reservations for tours to Montes in advance. Protocol changes frequently, so it is best to contact the winery about choices for wine tours.
Be Certain to make advance reservations when visiting the Montes Winery
Love wine? You can find more wine books (some free!) here, and learn about wine through podcasts and resources (also free) here.
And if you love wine from Chile, be sure to read this post about TerreNoble.
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