Blockbuster Red Wines From Chile

If you think of values when you think of Chilean wines, think again. Two red wines in the $50 range are about to be released that by their price and their pedigree seek to place Chile among the world’s top red wine producers. One is made by veteran Chilean vintner Aurelio Montes, and the other is a joint venture between California’s Robert Mondavi wine group and Chile’s Viña Errazuriz.

Leading the charge is Montes Alpha M, which at $54 a bottle is the most expensive Chilean wine to date. The Montes Winery recently introduced its 1996 luxury red at a tasting in New York. The wine is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, with some Cabernet Franc and Merlot blended in. It stands apart from other super Chileans, remarkable for its understated elegance.


“We wanted to create a new style in which the fruit is dominant,” said winemaker Montes. “It’s easy to sell an oaky wine. This is more austere, more elegant.” He also gives credit to the site: “The elegance comes from the vineyard. It is a wine of place.”

The vineyard is La Finca de Apalta estate in the Santa Cruz district of Colchagua Valley, an area Montes has dreamed of cultivating since 1972. The fruit for Alpha M comes from a parcel of hillside vines planted in 1990. “My feeling is the grapes in Apalta provide better fruit quality than our other vineyards, even though we have very old vines in Curicó,” explained Montes. He added that Alpha M will only be made in the best years. Of 1,600 six-bottle cases produced, 300 are destined for the United States.

Montes Winery is in only its eleventh year of operation. A vertical tasting of six vintages of its 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon Montes Alpha demonstrated a change in style since the debut 1987 release. The current release Cabernet Sauvignon Curicó Valley Montes Alpha 1994 (87 points on the Wine Spectator 100-point scale, $17) and new Montes Alpha 1995 display ripe, fruity characters with vanilla oak nuances, in contrast to the leaner, minty 1987 and the elegant, silky Alpha M.

Meanwhile, Robert Mondavi has developed Seña in partnership with Eduardo Chadwick of Viña Errazuriz. Seña follows in a line of successful joint ventures involving Mondavi, including Opus One, with Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Bordeaux, and Luce, with the Frescobaldi family of Tuscany.

Seña (which means “signature” in Spanish) is a lush, rich red wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carmenère grapes grown mostly in the Aconcagua Valley north of Santiago, where the Errazuriz winery was founded in 1870. In the debut vintage, 1995, production was limited to 2,000 cases; the wine is now being shipped to the United States, and should be available soon for $50 per bottle.

“We wanted to create a classic Chilean wine, but with more concentration and ageability,” said Tim Mondavi, who shared the winemaking responsibilities with Irene Paiva, winemaker at Errazuriz. “We believe the Aconcagua Valley can produce great red wines.”