Montes Purple Angel Apalta Vineyard Carmenere 2008
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Montes icon wines begin with the 2008 Purple Angel, a blend of 92% Carmenere and 8% Petit Verdot sourced from yields of less than 2 tons/acre and aged for 18 months in new French oak. It has become one of the benchmarks for what can be achieved with Carmenere. Notions of sandalwood, exotic spices, incense, a hint of chocolate, blueberry, and black currant set the stage for a dense, rich, voluptuous, structured wine that is all about pleasure. This lengthy offering will benefit from another 3-4 years of cellaring and will provide prime drinking from 2015 to 2023.
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Wine Enthusiast
Superripe and potent Carmenere from Montes, with coconut, prune, Port and baked cherry aromas. Calling it powerful is an understatement; it's piercing and penetrating, with wild blackberry, coffee and bitter chocolate flavors. Toast and espresso darkness rule the finish. Drink now through 2014.
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Wine Spectator
Dark and ripe, with well-integrated espresso and toast notes running through the blackberry, currant and dark licorice core. The solid, fleshy finish has nice pepper and cassis hints. Carmenère and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2012. 2,050 cases imported.
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With the release of the first Montes Alpha wine back in 1988, Montes became one of the first premium wineries of Chile. Their premise, a clear belief that Chile had an untapped potential as a producer of quality wines, made them a benchmark for other wineries to follow. Its original four partners' total involvement and the continuous help of the angels that decorate their labels was key to their success. Two decades later, Montes is the fifth most important winery of Chile where Aurelio Montes continues leading the winemaking area with the same passion as the first day. Hard work and total focus on quality has led Montes to be one of the most successful and respected quality-driven wineries in Chile as they continue pioneering and breaking new grounds in wine.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
Dramatic geographic and climatic changes from west to east make Chile an exciting frontier for wines of all styles. Chile’s entire western border is Pacific coastline, its center is composed of warm valleys and on its eastern border, are the soaring Andes Mountains.
Chile’s central valleys, sheltered by the costal ranges, and in some parts climbing the eastern slopes of the Andes, remain relatively warm and dry. The conditions are ideal for producing concentrated, full-bodied, aromatic reds rich in black and red fruits. The eponymous Aconcagua Valley—hot and dry—is home to intense red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.
The Maipo, Rapel, Curicó and Maule Valleys specialize in Cabernet and Bordeaux Blends as well as Carmenère, Chile’s unofficial signature grape.
Chilly breezes from the Antarctic Humboldt Current allow the coastal regions of Casablanca Valley and San Antonio Valley to focus on the cool climate loving varieties, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Chile’s Coquimbo region in the far north, containing the Elqui and Limari Valleys, historically focused solely on Pisco production. But here the minimal rainfall, intense sunlight and chilly ocean breezes allow success with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The up-and-coming southern regions of Bio Bio and Itata in the south make excellent Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Spanish settlers, Juan Jufre and Diego Garcia de Cáceres, most likely brought Vitis vinifera (Europe’s wine producing vine species) to the Central Valley of Chile sometime in the 1550s. One fun fact about Chile is that its natural geographical borders have allowed it to avoid phylloxera and as a result, vines are often planted on their own rootstock rather than grafted.