Montes Wines Montes Alpha Chardonnay Estate Bottled Valle de Casablanca 2016 750 ML

A yellow color and barrel-heavy aromas open this plump and resiny Chardonnay from a notoriously wet vintage. Fruit flavors are vacuous and smothered with oak, leaving a strong aftertaste of clove that extends onto the finish.

Producer Information
Montes is a large wine producer in Chile, exporting wines to more than 100 countries around the world. The company produces a wide range of wines from classic Chilean grape varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Syrah and Chardonnay. Purple Angel, a Carmenère-predominant wine from the Colchagua Valley, is Montes’ flagship and one of Chile’s most famous wines. Montes was founded in 1987 by winemaker Aurelio Montes and wine trade stalwart Douglas Murray, with the aim of producing high-quality Chilean wine. Today, the company’s vineyards span the length of the country, from Aconcagua and Casablanca Valley in the north to Apalta in the south. These are managed with as little irrigation as possible, to strengthen the vines, and green harvesting helps with berry concentration. Vineyards are harvested either late at night or early in the morning to help maintain the freshness of the grapes. There is a state-of-the-art 2.3-million-liter winery in Apalta, where many of Montes’ top wines are both grown and made. Along with the Purple Angel, the steepest and highest slopes of the vineyards in Apalta also provide grapes for the Folly Syrah, a concentrated and ageworthy red wine. The Alpha M Bordeaux blend is also made here, from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Taita is the newest addition to Montes’ icon wines, and focuses on Cabernet Sauvignon from the estate in Marchigüe.