Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A rich and decadent red with plum, chocolate, meat and hazelnut aromas and flavors. It’s full and layered with soft, round tannins that are juicy and opulent. Not drying.
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe, alluring aromas of violet petal, sugar cookie and blackberry lead to a firm palate with structure and length. Complex flavors of soy sauce, tea, baking spices and blackberry finish with a flash of chocolaty oak and a note of burnt toast.
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Vinous
The 2013 Montes Alpha M hails from Apalta and a cool, low-yielding year. Aromas of tobacco, blackberry jam, chutney and ash offer complexity and depth. This is juicy and dry on the palate, with evolving maturity and fine, grippy tannins. This is a layered wine with serious flavor.
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Wine Spectator
Richly spiced, with concentrated flavors of dark plum, blackberry and dark currant that turn creamy. Asian spice and chocolate notes fill the plush finish.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Well-regarded for intense and exceptionally high quality red wines, the Colchagua Valley is situated in the southern part of Chile’s Rapel Valley, with many of the best vineyards lying in the foothills of the Coastal Range.
Heavy French investment and cutting-edge technology in both the vineyard and the winery has been a boon to the local viticultural industry, which already laid claim to ancient vines and a textbook Mediterranean climate.
The warm, dry growing season in the Colchagua Valley favors robust reds made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec and Syrah—in fact, some of Chile’s very best are made here. A small amount of good white wine is produced from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.