Montes Folly, Montes WinesMontes Folly, Montes Wines Montes Folly, Montes Wines
3 News MONTES INTRODUCES FOLLY, A MAGIC WINE, CHILE'S FIRST ULTRA PREMIUM SYRAH Our gratitude, heartfelt, to all our friends the, who make or break a wine or wine writers winery, and who filled every seat at our presentation and listened closely to Aurelio and tasted our top MONTES ALPHA wines and a vertical of ALPHA "M" prior to MONTES FOLLY. The tasting of FOLLY was a golden moment, its acclaim unanimous and incredibly enthusiastic, with an open and happy emphasis and general sharing that is very rarely, almost never seen in wine presentations. Aurelio, and all of us, felt as close as we will ever get to heaven and -for a moment- DANIEL'S was full of angels and magic. Their written comments have been just as enthusiastic so it is clear that the glow of MONTES FOLLY remains with them. Our gratitude, very emotional, for the support of our great importers and their faith that MONTES could, again, perform a "hat trick". In particular, to Alexof TGIC Importers Guarachi -our USA importer- and to
Y. Hirose Japanese importer- both of whom (our #1 and #2, respectively, for "M" and Folly) made the pilgrimage to NYC. Also to Pierreand to Beuchet
Jean Pierre Rousseau DIVA, our F r e n c h i m p o r t e r, w h o s e g e n e r o u s advise and sharing of Bordeaux wine wisdom has helped us considerably. Our gratitude to all those "supposed" competitors -like Australia- who also generously contributed with their feedback during MONTES FOLLY' development stage. Love for wine is love for wine, has no frontiers, and we all learn in the process. We may be "folly" in achieving so many firsts with Montes Folly but it is wise to ask experts to comment when corrections can still be made. During Folly's barrel stay we asked for the wisdom -and generously received it- of stars like John Duval, maker of Australia's Grange, its most famous "Shiraz"; Phillip Shaw of Rosemount, winemakers from France and California -a special thanks to Christian- and many wine writers whose Moueix opinion and suggestions we greatly respect and whose encouragement and blessings we received "en route" to the final bottling, where Aurelio's genius -and considerations from all this feed-back- are reflected.
Our gratitude, finally, to the end consumers those beloved wine merchants and superior restaurants who still view superb wines as poetry, forever in the making , and the wine lovers whose passion for perfection is what drives us all to search for the limits. Without THEIR support MONTES would not exist. Our dreams would have remained just that, dreams. thanks to New York's best, MORREL & CO, SHERRY-LEHMANN and ZACHY'S for their immediate adoption of both "M" and "Folly" -our pride swells by their support- and to Japan's ENOTECA wine stores and their spectacular wine specialists, where both "M" and Folly are already icons.
Douglas Murray, June 2002 Director & Founding Partner. 4 7 1. 2. Bruce Sanderson, Aurelio Montes.
3. Palanci.
4. Guarachi.
5. Edgar Mora.
6. 7. 8. 9. Jules Roiseaux, Anthony Gismondi, Casey Wilson, William Bincoletto, Nicole Barrete-Ryan, Douglas Murray.
1 2 3 6 9 5 8 WINE SPECTATOR (Buying guide, May 15, 2002) 92 POINTS MONTES FOLLY
Santa Cruz 2000 $70 Gorgeous blackberry and boysenberry flavors, with opulent toast and mineral and spice notes coming in at the end. This is a seriously big wine with authorative tannins pounding out the finish. but the fruit is there in spades. This debut makes a serious case for Syrah's future in Chile. Best from 2003 through 2007. 665 cases made (1330 six bottle cases). JM The Weekend Australian (February 23-24, 2002) MONTES TURNS A FOLLY INTO A FLAGSHIP
by JAMES HALLIDAY (Australia's famous winemaker and wine writer). Why would anyone invite me to travel to New York for a lunch launch of a new Chilean wine? Why would I accept? All pure folly, and funnily enough, that is exactly what the wine is: Montes Folly, the inaugural 2000 vintage selling (on strict allocation) in the USA for US$70, and here for $110.- The absolute importance of having credible flagship is critical. The mere fact that MONTES was able to assemble journalists from all over North America, including three from the Wine Spectator, and guests from as far afield as Japan, speaks volumes. So does the price of the two top wines, so does the fact that Montes wines are featured on the wine lists of 22 restaurants in Bordeaux alone. I'm willing to bet that no Australian wine company could claim such recognition. But there is yet another twist: FOLLY is 100% Shiraz (or Syrah, as it is correctly known in Chile) produced from Montes'La Finca vineyard...with an average vine age of seven years, that of the syrah even younger. The Folly comes from vines on a 45 degreeslope, picked -says Douglas Murray- by acrobats. After the grapes are destemmed, they pass along a conveyor belt with five people either side, plucking out individual berries which are less than perfect. Once crushed and in the fermenter, 15% of the juice is immediately bled (saignee, or run-off) to concentrate the remainder. After a prolonged fermentation and maceration, the wine spends 18 months in 100% new French oak.
Obviously enough, it is a very youthful wine, years away from its peak. But it is technically perfect, and, even served blind, proclaims its quality: the ultimate wine for the Options Game. The final touch is the label, painted by that remarkable artist-illustrator Ralph Steadman. The wildest wine from the Apalta Valley is the Montes line for a Syrah which has one foot The Montes wines are imported and sold by Dan Murphy Cellars... Small wonder VANCOUVER SUN (Vancouver, B.C. Canada, 23 January 2002) "FROM CHILE'S WINDSWEPT HEIGHTS COMES A FABULOUS' FOLLY"
by ANTHONY GISMONDI. Listening to Aurelio Montes articulate his passion for his craft, you sense that "Montesfrom the moment he was told it Folly" was destined to be the name of this super Syrah couldn't be done in South America. Aurelio says his new Syrah "captures the spirits. Douglas Murray, a founding of our mountains, with an uncommon mixture of muscles, elegance and basket of wild fruit flavors" partner and globetrotting marketing director, calls the "Montes Folly" an adventure and dubs it "The Indiana Jones of wine". My notes record a rich, peppery red, stuffed with black fruit, licorice and chocolate flavours. Although conditions at Apalta, but there's enough restraint and compare favourably with those of both the Hermitage in the northern Rhone Valley of France and the Barossa Valley of South Australia, I would position Montes Folly as a Syrah that is more Rhone-like than anything out of Australia. It's still more New World than European in style elegance to appeal to sophisticated palates. SOME OF THE FIRST WRITTEN REACTIONS TO MONTES FOLLY, WORLDWIDE: Lunch at Daniel followed the tasting and Montes Folly soared when paired with "le boeuf et le celeri", braised short ribs and peppered filet in red wine, with celery root purée and braised celery stalks. As good as the wine is, the bottle label may even top what's inside, thanks to noted British illustrator Ralph Steadman...Montes has a tradition of including an angel icon on its labels, and it's there, this time a mischievous looking one watching from a corner.
My guess is that the already-fine Montes Folly will only improve over the years, as the vineyard ages and Montes himself learns even more about how Syrah can adjust to its new Chilean home production is miniscule and with only 8000 bottles for the world, distribution in Canada will be very limited for a wine expected to sell in B.C. for close to $ 100... Add to all the fact that this first release bears the 2000 vintage stamp, and I'd bet the wine will be an PLANETAVINOS.COM (Santiago, Chile, August 28, 2001) NEW FROM MONTES: MONTES FOLLY
by PATRICIO TAPIA. "Aurelio has placed all his best cards in Colchagua"..."Were it not for Folly, Montes Alpha M'99 would be the best proof of the vast knowledge Aurelio has accumulated on Apalta Valley"... "But there is Folly, a "wild" wine as Douglas Murray defines it"... "At a similar price, Montes Folly is a totally different wine to "M". Just as "M" offers elegance married to concentration, Montes Folly 2000 (barrel sample) is pure potency, pure fruit precariously harvested from steep slopes that Montes has in Apalta. Very interesting difference, very complex, but seductive difference, very complex, but a seductive difference for all those who have the money to try both wines side by side". WINE SPECTATOR (Web, February 7, 2002) BRUCE SANDERSON'S HOT WINES
(week of 02/01/2002). Montes Folly, Santa Cruz 2000 92 points. $70. 665 cases (1.330 six bottle cases). 150 (300 six bottle cases) imported into the U.S. The seeming "folly" of Aurelio Montes effort has resulted in this debut release, a 100% Syrah priced to run with the big-boy Cabs that have made a name for themselves in Chile in the past few years...this is a generously big wine. (Volume N°3. Montreal, Canada) VINS & VIGNOBLES
by NICOLE BARRETTE. All of the New York world of wine, really all the world of wine was in New York on January 11th for the international launching of MONTES FOLLY, the last son of Aurelio Montes. Why Syrah? Aurelio explains that it represented a challenge and he really wanted and felt he could do well. Montes Folly is a CHILEVINOS.COM (Santiago, Chile, August 28, 2001) "FOLLY, THE WILD SIDE OF MONTES"
by ANA MARIA BARAHONA. Yesterday the star of the evening was the much-awaited Folly which, still today as barrel samples, is set for a formal worldwide presentation in NYC on January 11th, 2002..."With Folly, Aurelio said, we want to show that Syrah, which has gained so much prestige worldwide, has a privileged home in Apalta"..."the barrel-sample was proof that we are more than a step above Montes Alpha Syrah...For its winemaker, the definition for it is a "basket full of ripe fruits" and the difference, other than yield, is that Montes Alpha Syrah comes from the lower slopes and Folly comes from the steepest slopes, more than 100 mts. higher from the valley floor". (Seminar & Tasting, October 9, 2001. London, UK) THE BRITISH CIRCLE OF WINE WRITERS
by CHERRY JENKINS. Montes Folly Syrah 2000 (Barrel Sample). This(and not even from an was a knockout and quite the best wine of the afternoon acclaimed vintage). Steven Spurrier, with an elegance congratulated Aurelio on such a superb blend of New and Old World Styles and sophistication of a true Rhone wine accompanied by the fruit structure from sunny Chilean climes, masterminded by a visionary! Syrah or Shiraz? Definitively Syrah, as it is the French style from French clones the winemakers are searching for in their premium wines. So, carry on the good (PUBLICO Newspaper, Lisbon, Portugal, April 13, 2002) MONTES FOLLY, A DREAM SYRAH
by DAVID LOPES RAMOS The excellent Chilean red wine, Montes Alpha "M" now has a partner of its same stature: Montes Folly, a super-potent Syrah from "La Finca de Apalta", belonging to MONTES. A, vintage 2000, it has huge enological achievement from Aurelio Montes sensational depth, dark color, an impressive viscosity that leaves great "legs". It is a symphony of fresh aromas from very mature red fruits and aging for 18 months in new french oak barrels. It is a red wine of incredible complexity. To the palate, it has an enormous mouth-filling effect, all-encompassing, volume, vigorous body and firm and positive tannins. The finish is harmonious and lasts and lasts... A wine that will improve in bottle for many years. Production is limited to 9000 bottles, a few of which will be available in Portugal. (EL UNIVERSO Newspaper, Ecuador, April 5, 2002) A MONTES OF FOLLY
by "EPICURO" (BERNARD FOURGERS) There are wines that mark a decade and that can instantly seduce you deserves a special article on all counts, both wine and label by Ralph Steadman. Young. With a and impetuous Folly throws itself at you right away, like a woman in love very limited production of only 9000 bottles, to find it is a difficult task. Guayaquil has a few bottles. The seduction is immediate, as happened with me with Opus One from Robert Mondavi, Dominus from Christian Moueix, with Châteauneuf du Pape, Penfolds Grange, many years ago. Aurelio kidnapped Syrah and made it grow in impossible places. He cared for it lovingly and I can guess that when tasting the fist bottle he and Douglas exchanged looks of complicity: they had just invented -deep Folly- the quintessential Chilean Syrah. WINE ENTHUSIAST (April 2002) CHILE'S WILD NEW WINE (MONTES RELEASES SOUTH AMERICA'S FIRST ULTRA-PREMIUM SYRAH)
by MICHAEL SCHACHNER. "The best plan is...to profit by the folly of others." Wine lovers should take these words of wisdom literally. The folks at Viña Montes, one of Montes Folly, a new "Super Chilean" Syrah priced at $70 a bottle, was released earlier this year, and the word there is. that this is one terrific wine Rich, deeply colored, lush and full of layered fruits and spices,
this blockbuster Syrah is on par with many great Syrahbased wines that hail from France's Northern Rhône Valley or Australia. That it exists at all is a testament to the value of dreams and persistence. Folly is the brainchild of Aurelio Montes (and to a lesser degree that of his partner, Douglas Murray). The expense and difficulty in preparing the rocky soil, building terraces, planting vines and eventually harvesting grapes on 45-degrees slopes was unprecedented. But with Montes and Murray, nothing is ever out of reach. Picked by hand, "by acrobats", according to Murray, yields were a mere two tons per acre. Vinification was in small lots, followed by 18 months aging in new French oak. "Folly captures the spirit of our mountains, with an uncommon mixture of muscle and elegance", says Aurelio Montes. In keeping with the folly theme, Murray turned to a personal friend, the irreverent British sketch artist Ralph Steadman, to design an appropriate label for the wine. Steadman, Murray believed, was the perfect artist to convey the essence of Folly. The two had travelled together in 1992 to Chile's Atacama Desert, the world's driest, and Steadman was forever moved by that experience "There's no sanctuary there, nor pity". Steadman said of Atacama. Overseeing the landscape scene, but from the side panel, is a somewhat drunken-looking angel holding a bunch of grapes, presumably Apalta-grown Syrah. A most befitting label for such a wild but serious wine. HUGH JOHNSON
(UK, October 12, 2001) "I tasted Folly 2000 straight away and can see exactly why you are so excited by it. To my mind it outdoes even the Cabernets in depth and structure. There is huge promise here. Chapeau!" THE WINE NEWS (April / May 2002, Miami, Florida) "TASTER'S CHOICE SELECTIONS"
by TOM SMITH and his team. 93 Points Apalta Valley, Chile: Brooding blue-black hue. Complex aromas of ripe blueberry, new oak, chocolate, cream and a hint of earth. Fullbodied, rich mouth-feel; flavours of spicy black cherry, cherry chocolate, toasty oaks and a hint of clove, all framed by ripe, tooth-coating tannins. Opulent, lingering, oak-tinged close. $70. ALBERTA VENDOR MAGAZINE (Spring 2002) MONTES-CHILE'S FIRST GROWTH - "Vintners Producing Classics to Rival the World's Best"
by WILLIAM BINCOLETTO Imagine you are about to be introduced to a wine that many, in the years to come, will consider a classic the likes of Mouton Rothschild, Grange or even Petrus! What is it? Who makes it? And most important of all, where can I get some? While there are more than 40 Chilean producers and over 100 different wines now available in Alberta (Canada's largest selection), one name seems to be popping up regularly in the classic category. The source -Chile, the winery- Montes. What's so special about Montes? Their goal was to create some of the finest, most delicious premium quality wines ever produced in Chile or elsewhere. Montes and Montes Alpha were those premium wines and what followed caused its own revolution. Their Alpha M, a unique Bordeaux-style wine, was released in January 1998. Alpha M has been a big success from day one. In January Montes launched Chile's first Chilean ultra-premium Syrah "Folly". And when Montes launches, they launch! The winery gathered reporters from across the globe at Daniel, a four star restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The New York Times calls Daniel. "Classy yet warm, refined yet earthy...a knockout French restaurant with the soul of a small café. "How fitting!. So why name this wine Folly? As the quote goes "what's in a name? And Folly is true to its name from its origins to the wine itself. As one of the vintners hails it,"the Indiana Jones of wine". For winemaker Aurelio Montes, a real maverick and arguably one of the world's best winemakers, it was folly to ever think of planting Syrah in the most improbable of places, the highest reaches of an extremely rocky slope called La Finca de Apalta. It is an unplantable granite mountain in the Santa Cruz district where clearing the soil, planting, vineyard management and harvesting were considered pure folly. Musing on the steepness and difficulty of the terrain, Douglas Murray quips that Folly is "harvested by acrobats" Yields are astonishingly low at a mere two tons per acre with berries and clusters that are smaller than those in the lower vineyard slopes. As a result, they deliver more colour and tannins, making the wines richly coloured, complex and powerful. While Montes does produce a tremendous Alpha Syrah, with a peppery and full bodied concentration, Folly is as similar to the As Aurelio described it, "it captures the spirit of our mountains, with an uncommon mixture of muscle and elegance while showing a basket of wild fruit flavours". While the wine's name may make you smile most consumers are first attracted by its label. Here again Montes excelled with one of the world's best illustrators on commission; the result was bound to create sensation.
Ralph Steadman created a new version of the Montes angel, an angel that seems to be smiling at the prospect of being Folly's guardian angel with only 8,000 bottles produced, this wine will be extremely rare and very allocated. The very few cases will be arriving in Alberta by June 2002. It's real folly to be without a bottle. BEVERAGE MEDIA (Metro New York, March 2002) MONTES INTRODUCES FOLLY: CHILE'S FIRST ULTRA PREMIUM SYRAH. Montes Folly is a wild and powerful wine. A blockbuster wine, ripe and lush, with velvety tannins and 14.8% Alcohol with an uncommon mixture of muscles and elegance, while showing a basket of wild fruit flavor. Suggested retail $70 (Spring, 2002) PURPLE FEET MAGAZINE
WILLIAM BINCOLETTO'S Cellar Notes. Montes Folly 2000 - Barrel Sample. Rating 5. (The Purple Feet Rating System: 5 GRAPES+ grapes=spectacular). A new wine that will be launched officially next January to the world. 100% Syrah from a specific four hectare plot of their "Finca" Estate with a 35% inclination and a west-south-west exposure. Similar to the Alpha Syrah as a teddy bear is similar to a raging Grizzly, this wine is just plain more. My notes were very simple: "great, big, wonderful, WOW!!! The richness, depth, length and finish are all quasi "indestructible". They go on and on and on. What a finish! With only 1000 cases (of six) this wine will be extremely rare and very hard to get. (UK, October 31, 2001) JANCIS ROBINSON
"The Montes Folly is extremely impressive. The acid balance is good and while it is obviously terribly alcoholic, it is very flattering and concentrated. I expect you will have" great success with it. WINES WORTH MORE: ONE WINEMAKER'S REALIZES HIS DREAM THAT IS PURE FOLLY
by DONNA MARIE ZOTTER (copyright @2001 Donna Marie Zotter). The Montes 1999 Alpha M and 2000 Folly are characteristically different. For those looking for something more in their wines, these two bottlings will inspire both tasters and collectors to seek out these hard-to-find wines. Made to engage the senses and inspire the soul. Impassioned and fervent for creating the best wines from his beloved properties,
Montes continues to lead among the Chilean notables in producing quality premium wines. Temperate and unassuming, Montes is an artist. "This is love", he says, as he sits down to assemble the final blend of Folly. With that, he somehow manages to bottle that forgotten mystique and romantic allure that winemaking was once about. The soon-to-be-released Folly may very well be Montes' most brilliant work to date. This sweetpeppery full-bodied red is not for the faint of heart Colorful, sensual and massive, Montes' experiment pays off big in what he describes as the best wine he's ever made. We will call it something more. Perhaps, quite simply, a masterpiece. Commanding and purposeful like the mountain rivers that give them life, these, indeed, are wines worth more. DECANTER Magazine (London, June 2002) "RIPE FOR SUCCESS"
by AMY WISLOCKI. As Aurelio stands on a steep slope looking down over the Apalta vineyards, he bends down to look more closely at the Syrah grapes for his new wine, Folly. "We had to take 300 truckloads of stones away to plant here", he says. The label on the bottle proudly proclaims: "The only place where the grapes are harvested by acrobats". Planted on the steepest, top strip of Apalta, the vines are harvested at 25hl/ha and production is tiny.
And they add: REDS TO RUSH OUT FOR Montes Folly 2000 Montes Cabernet/Carmenère 2000. (June 27, 2002) DONALD BERGER
Famous Chef and our importer in Vietnam. "The Folly is a monster!!!" Find us on the Web!! www.monteswines.com PLEASE CONTRIBUTE YOUR MONTES NEWS It will be our pleasure to receive your news and also whatever is written about our MONTES and MONTES ALPHA wines as it will be a delight to hear from you on this Alpha Syrah as a bear cub is to a raging Kodiak. This wine is just plain more. Despite 14.8 per cent alcohol, the balance is incredible. The richness, depth, length and finish are all quasi-indestructible. They go on and on and on. What a finish! Chile's most progressive and respected wineries, have already done the hard work with respect to Montes Folly 2000 Syrah. Now it's time for consumers to enjoy the fruits of their efforts. work, Aurelio, and bring us more of that sensational, sophisticated, sexy, soft and succulent Syrah called Folly next year and the year after and the year after that. great wine for cellaring and, in a few years, when the vines age a bit more, it will be the equal of the ermitages of Côte Roties and of the greatest Shiraz of Australia. instant sell-out. To suggest otherwise would be pure Folly. Montes is the number one selling Chilean wine in Australia. in the Old World (Côte Rotie) and one foot in the New World. |