Carmenère, Montes ‘Alpha’

Silky black plum and blackberry wrapped in roasted pepper, tobacco leaf, and cocoa. Plush but not heavy, finishing with a savory spice that feels like a nod to the Andes herbs growing wild between vineyards. 2021 was cooler than average in Colchagua, keeping acidity bright and pushing Carmenère toward elegance rather than jammy power. The result is lifted fruit and freshness layered over the grape’s earthy core. Aged in French oak [about half new], with stainless to keep balance, the oak brings polish and mocha spice without hiding the variety’s green-peppery DNA.

Montes was founded in 1987 by four friends with the radical idea that Chile could produce world-class premium wines. Today, Alpha Carmenère is their signature — a benchmark that proved this once-forgotten grape deserved a global comeback.

Carmenère was misidentified as Merlot in Chile until the 1990s, when DNA testing revealed the truth. Imagine discovering your “Merlot” vineyards were actually a long-lost Bordeaux grape thought extinct in Europe for a century.