Right this moment, with one faculty of winemakers selecting carmenere ever earlier to make a stand on more energizing, spicier wines with higher linearity, Montes finds itself among the many different group of winemakers who nonetheless decide carmenere at peak ripeness. With Aurelio Montes Sr.’s fiftieth classic simply across the nook, he informed us that the golden rule he abides by now’s to not spoil what the harvests give him.
“When the leaves turned purple, it’s the proper time to choose carmenere, and the grape berries flip to an intense, purple coloration,” he mentioned, which is why his high wine is named “Purple Angel.” Equally, the title of Concha y Toro’s Carmin de Peumo suggests the gorgeous carmine coloration of carmenere’s leaves proper earlier than the harvest.
“The gorgeous factor about carmenere is that it is likely one of the few grape varieties the place the leaves’ coloration modifications to carmine purple. That’s why I at all times say that the carmenere may be very sort. When it’s prepared to reap, its leaves flip purple, telling us to reap,” mentioned Marcio Ramirez.
Malbec turned out to be a well-kept secret from a dry, heat 12 months, and we discovered just a few surprises from our tastings. Some old-vine, dry-farmed malbecs from Colchagua completely match the classic. The Neyen Malbec Valle de Colchagua Espíritu de Apalta Restricted Version 2020, from vines over 100 years previous, is likely one of the greatest from the classic. Polkura and Montes are additionally delivering excellent malbecs.
“The wonder is that malbec from Chile is completely totally different from Argentina,” mentioned Montes Sr.’s son, Aurelio Montes Jr., who reminded us that malbec arrived in Chile earlier than it traveled to the opposite facet of the Andes within the mid-Nineteenth Century. The Montes Malbec Valle de Colchagua Alpha 2020 is a brooding, vinous expression of malbec with nice worth, and hints at a shiny future for the grape in Chile.
“Malbec is a superb area of interest wine and exhibits the attention-grabbing facet of Chile,” mentioned Bruchfeld of Polkura, who additionally triumphed in 2020 together with his Polkura Malbec Valle de Colchagua Marchigue 2020, which exhibits spectacular depth and focus, with flesh and purity.
READ MORE GREAT VALUE WINES: 8 CHILEAN CABERNET SAUVIGNON FOR UNDER $25
