2004-2005

WORLD WINERY OF THE YEAR 2004 IN FINLAND
We are very proud of sharing with you the news that the prestigious Finnish magazine, Gloria Wine and Food has chosen Montes as the Year’s World Winery (the previous winner had been the renowned ANTINORI, of Italy). The prize, awarded for our trajectory as well as for the quality of all our Montes and Montes Alpha wines, was granted during a gala of the Cuisine & Vin Organisation, in October last year, at Helsinki’s Kalastajatorppa Hilton Hotel, a gathering duly attended by Aurelio and Douglas, happy recipients of such a worthy prize. Thanks to our friends in Finland! This strongly motivates us to stick to the path we traced, producing wines of ever-increasing quality.

PROCHILE REWARDS MONTES
Along with celebrating our 30th. year of fruitful existence, ProChile, the governmental agency in charge of promoting Chilean exports, have awarded Viña Montes a special prize in recognition of their “innovativeness” in exporting. The accolade was received by co-founder and director of the winery, Douglas Murray. On the occasion, the foresight of the partners was highlighted, particularly referring to their pioneering idea of planting vineyards in uphill slopes and hence producing premium and super-premium wines, which have been largely praised, not only in Chile, but abroad. Another highlight dwelt on the winery’s successful position abroad. Montes now stands 5th. in the ranking of Chilean wine exporters, with a production in the area of 550.000 cases per year for 2005.

JACQUES’ WEIN DEPOT’S MAGAZINE, Germany, April 2004
ALWAYS IN THE HIGHEST PLACE
“Some times it is wise to let go of any admiration one might have or feel for a particular wine and its respective producer and see what the specialised press have to say on the matter. Leafing through plenty of material, we did not find a single case in which the wines of Aurelio Montes were not considered at the pinnacle of the quality pyramid within Chilean viticulture. Thomas Vaterlaus wrote, for instance, in VINUM magazine : “Aurelio Montes’ wines classify, doubtlessly, among the very best, and this not only holds good for his two most expensive top wines”. Or, rather, let’s consider the opinion of the renowned English critic, Tom Stevenson in his Wine Report 2004: “Viña Montes can only be found in three categories “Best of…” : First place in the group of Best Wine Producers; 7th. place in Best Value Producers; and 1st. place in the Best Wines category, convenient price wines section”. And in Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion’s last edition: “Montes shares with Casa Lapostolle the honour of being one of the best evaluated Chilean wine producers.”

London, UK, September 2005
ANNUAL WINES OF CHILE TRADE TASTING
The traditional Annual Tasting was held in the rooms of the Lord’s Cricket Ground, in London, to the attendance of virtually hundreds of Chilean wineries. It was visited by nearly a thousand experts, importers, distributors and other professionals of the world of wine. Conspicuous figures could be seen sauntering through the corridors: Wine writers of the stature of Jancis Robinson, Oz Clarke, Steven Spurrier, Peter Richards, Rosemary George and Anthony Rose, to name but a few. Montes’ Carlos Serrano was in charge of presenting our new vintages of Montes Alpha M 2003 and Montes Folly 2003, as well as one of the evening’s undisputed stars, Purple Angel, Montes’ Carmenère novelty, which came as an amazing surprise to many of those visiting.

MONTES IN CHINA’S TRAVEL CHANNEL
Last June a whole team of China’s Travel Channel made an extensive report on Chile, From North to South, highlighting the tourist, cultural, geographic, and gastronomic attractions of the country, sponsored by ProChile, Chile’s governmental agency for export promotion. During their long tour, only one winery was visited: Montes, whose vineyards of Apalta and Marchigüe were filmed by the Chinese cameramen. This visit was co-ordinated by our importer in China, Johnny Chan, whose special fondness for Chile and our wines were indelibly left in multiple recordings. The result of this enterprise was a magnificent television programme, wonderfully produced, with extraordinary images; and it has been broadcast on several occasions in many of China’s main cities. Thanks, Johnny! That was a marvellous job indeed!

YAHOO FINANCIAL NEWS, USA, July 27, 2005
PITTSBURG COLLECTION STORE
“The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board today celebrated the grand opening of its newest Premium Collection Store with a wine tasting at the Bill Green Shopping Center, 10 Clairton Road, Pittsburg. To celebrate the occasion, Aurelio Montes, proprietor of Montes Winery in Chile, hosted a wine tasting. The tasting, including hors d’oeuvres, was free and open to adults 21 and over. Montes poured samples of his winery’s Chardonnay Alpha, Syrah Alpha and Sauvignon Blanc Leyda. All of the products featured in the tasting were Chairman’s Selection Wines – highly rated wines, almost always available at the lowest prices in the country”… “This beautiful store offers one of the finest selections of wines anywhere”, said PLCB Chairman, Jonathan Newman. “We’re very excited that Aurelio Montes traveled from Chile to help us to celebrate the opening”.