Apr 08 2010
Montes Winery
Since its inception in 1987 Montes Winery in Santiago Chile has been producing some of the finest, most affordable wines anywhere in South America. Recently in the news after being selected to pour at the Wine Spectator grand tasting event and for the horrific earthquake I am happy to note that the winery suffered only superficial damage and should not see any affect in its ongoing product.
A project of four partners (two original, plus two additions a short time later.. all 4 with previous experience within the wine industry either domestically in Chile or abroad) Montes original aim was to prove that the small and medium sized wineries in Chile could in fact produce world class wine, instead of the cheaper product that was geared specifically for customers at their local supermarkets. In many ways they wanted to show that the Chilean wine industry was capable of competing on the international stage with American, French, Italian and Australian wineries. For wine drinkers the world over, we can be thankful that Montes helped to begin this trend in Chile as their wine as well as the wine being produced by other estates in Chile is some of the most affordable highly rated wine in the world.
One of my favorite parts of Montes is their commitment to their environment which is very common in Napa and Sonoma, but much less so in other parts of the world. Montes is focused on producing grapes using sustainable farming practices, natural pest management, preserving water and using recycled products whenever possible. They believe that these types of commitments may raise the prices of their wines in the short term by a small amount, but will allow them (and all other farmers) to product high quality fruit indefinitely on their current estate.
Lastly Montes has made a name for itself as one of the few wineries outside of the United States that not only accepts wine tasters, but encourages them. I can highly encourage anyone who happens to be vacationing in South America, Chile in peculiar, to take an afternoon to enjoy the view, wine and lunch being offered on a vineyard tour from the winery. You’ll enjoy some of the best fruit forward Cabernet Sauignon and Chardonnay that is being produced in Chile, even being named the International Winery of the Year in 2007 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. This is the type of family owned operation that I like to support if they are found in the United States, or internationally.
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