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VINAS MONTES

"Montes was founded in 1987 and became one of the first wineries to exploit the hillsides to make premium Chilean wine, most notably in the Apalta Valley. It was also the first winery to cultivate Syrah in Colchagua. The winery eschews pumps and is built around gravity transfer, while the entire design is based around the Chinese concept of feng shui. Below lies the semi-circular cellar that houses up to 800 new French oak barrels, enjoying the Gregorian chants while they mature the wine. Despite the impressive facilities and quasi-ecclesiastical karma, Aurelio firmly believes that great wine is made in the vineyard rather than the winery. Still, when I questioned him about whether he is revising his modus operandi, he replied that, at least apropos his Chardonnay, like many in South America, he is decreasing the amount of oak in the wines while lifting the malolactic." - Neal Martin