Big Girl Wines From Chile

I remember with great fondness the first wine tastings I was a part of, when a group of us, my sister and I along with four or five of our best girlfriends would get together every Sunday night to enjoy the newest episode of the X Files and the finest selection of red wine magnums (1.5 Liters) we could afford at the time.

After sampling our share of cheap California jug wines, we were delighted to eventually discover some Chilean selections that left us feeling like we were expanding our wine drinking repertoire. Brands such as Gato Negro and Concha y Toro sounded exotic and provided us with our first glimpses into the world of South American wine. At around $8 or $9 (for the big bottle even!), these very approachable, fruit-forward wines were our ticket out of Sutter Homesville.

Since these long ago days I have vastly expanded my Chilean wine knowledge and my love of wines from this part of the world has increased tenfold, but I will never forget the gloriously inexpensive Chilean wines that first transported me into a wider world of wine drinking.

I was reminded of these beginner wine tastings when I recently cracked open a bottle from one of my favorite Chilean wineries, Vina Montes.  For quite some time Chile was primarily known for the type of value-based brands mentioned above and with these had managed to find a pretty comfortable little niche.  But there were those in Chile who were not satisfied with producing only wines of this quality. 

So, a couple of fellows got together with the intention of creating a premium brand of wines from Chile and this brand came to be called Montes. The nice thing about these wines is that although they are some of the most expensive wines exported from Chile today, compared to many wines of this same quality from other parts of the world, the prices are beyond reasonable.  I have been searching for these particular wines since I moved back to Fargo with little luck until a couple of months ago. I was so excited when I was approached by my wine distributor about ordering the entire line.

Part of quality control for this winery includes keeping production to a minimum, which explains why many of these wines are sometimes harder to come by. There are three levels of wine in this portfolio, each offering some great selections in every price range.  Montes’ basic line of wines, the Classic Series, consists of a Cabernet, Chardonnay, Malbec, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc, all priced at around $9 to $12 a bottle. The Alpha line, which originally put Montes on the map by creating some of the first premium Chilean wines, includes a Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Syrah ranging from around $16 to $20. In the upper echelon are a selection of ultra premium wines which can be hard to find but so worth the time and effort.  The Purple Angel is one to note, retailing at around $50 to $60- IF you can find it.

Of the Classic Series wines, the one that blows me away, and therefore was the first to sell out in my store, is the Montes Classic Sauvignon Blanc.  This fresh and lively, well balanced wine comes out of the Casablanca Valley, known to produce some of the best white wines in Chile. Exploding with tropical fruits, it displays the perfect amount of acidity and absolutely zero oak which I love. This inexpensive wine is so amazing with sushi and makes a perfect accompaniment to light appetizers and white meats. My only disappointment now stems from my own big mouth, forcing me to have to wait a few more weeks before the new shipment arrives.
         
My very favorite two wines out of this entire portfolio are part of the Alpha line.  At a reasonable $16 to $18, the price of these premium wines versus the quality is unbelievable. They both come out of the Alpalta Vineyard in the Colchagua Valley, known for its outstanding red wine production. The Montes Alpha Cabernet was Chile’s first ever premium export wine.

This delectable wine is full bodied with just the right amount of tannins. This style of Cabernet accentuates the unique terroir of Chile while sticking to the familiar flavor profiles of the varietal. With hints of tobacco and vanilla, it will impress even the biggest wine snobs with its elegance and sophistication, and all for under 20 bucks!  As insanely good as this wine is though, my personal love from this portfolio is the Montes Alpha Syrah.  Black cherries, smoke, and lots of spice dominate this rich and velvety wine.  As a huge Syrah lover in general I cannot think of too many I would choose to drink over this one.
The Montes Purple Angel, considered a “super-Chilean” by some, just sounds like a wine I want to experience.  With notoriously high ratings and a fairly low production rate, this ultra premium wine is not always easy to find.  Consisting of mostly Carmenere, a varietal originally from France but now found predominantly in Chile, this wine is nothing short of heavenly. At around $50 to $60 though, depending on how easy it is to obtain, this one might be more of a collectable than an everyday bottle.

These wines represent a big part of my personal wine journey over the years and how far it has taken me.  I would never take back those days of cheap Chilean jug wine nor would I necessarily crack a bottle open today. For me, the memories of five drunken women, a little David Duchovny, and a bunch of large bottles of cheap red wine may not have been the classiest first attempts at wine experimentation, but I couldn’t have asked for a greater introduction into the fabulous and crazy world of wine.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)