Country: Chile  Region: Aconcagua Costa  Vintage: 2018 Category: Red Wine  Colour:  Red Producer: Montes PRODUCERMontes was established in 1988 by Aurelio Montes, DouglasMurray, Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand, with the aim ofproducing the best wines in Chile from the best regions. We havelong admired Montes and what they have done for Chilean wineover the past three decades. Their wines are consistently goodbecause they are meticulous throughout the entire productionprocess. Montes owns 800 hectares of vineyards in Apalta andMarchigüe located in Colchagua Valley as well a single vineyardZapallar, located in coastal Aconcagua Valley.The Limited Selection wines are classic examples of matching thevariety or blend to an area. The grape growers and winemakersare given carte blanche to take outstanding fruit and come upwith some wholly individual wines that are perfect expressions ofsite.VINEYARDSThe vineyards that produce the grapes for the Montes LimitedSelection Pinot Noir are located in the Casablanca, Leyda, andZapallar Valleys, in the Aconcagua Costa wine region. All thevineyards are close to the sea — Casablanca is 25 km from thecoast, Leyda 9 km, and Zapallar is 7 km inland. This brings freshnessand minerality to this cool-climate wine. The soils are granitic, withvarying amounts of clay content and all vines are verticallypositioned.VINIFICATIONThe hand-harvested grapes were destemmed and the berrieswere sorted before transferred into open-top stainless steel tankswhere they were cold soaked at 7°C for five days. This is to extractaroma and colour, especially important for the thin-skinned PinotNoir. The temperature was then raised to allow for fermentationwhich lasted approximately seven days at 23º– 25ºC, with twopump-overs and punch-downs per day. After being pressed, thewine underwent malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tankswith some of the wine aged in French oak barrels for six to sevenmonths, while the rest remained in stainless steel tanks. The winewas lightly filtered prior to bottling.TASTING NOTESThis wine is ruby red in colour. On the nose, there are intensearomas of fresh strawberries and tart cherries, with notes of rosepetals and wild herbs. The well-integrated oak adds eleganceand complexity – lightly toasted hazelnut and vanilla notes andvery gentle, rounded tannins. A vibrant palate with plenty of redfruit and a balanced, lingering finish.