On my tour of Chile, it seems the country’s winemakers do like to be beside the seaside. The town of Marchigue (pronounced Mar-chee-way), nestled behind the coastal ranges in Colchagua, isn’t much to look at but from the first wines we tasted from Montes’ new vineyard, this could be something special.
The tireless Aurelio Montes Snr and his team first planted vines here in 2001. Today there are 700 hectares
While others have planted nearby, projects have been slowed by a lack of water, the economic crisis and a strengthening currency. The national water authorities won’t let you dig wells to get water unless you have the right papers – and these are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. Montes has also built an artificial lake to catch rain water to irrigate the vines.
Colchagua is best known for its full-on ripe Syrahs, Carmeneres and Cabernet Sauvignons. Marchigue is part of Colchagua but being only 12 miles from the sea, the hairdo-ruining breezes cool the vineyards. Temperatures are estimated to be 10% lower than in the more central Apalta area and harvest here is around two weeks later than in their most prestigious vineyard of Apalta. Bring nearer to the sea, you’d think they’d get more rain too but it’s half of Apalta’s rainfall as it lies in the rainshadow of the coastal range – just like Alsace is protected by the Vosges.
The first wines coming out of these vineyards are really impressive. They’ve planted Malbec, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere here and despite high alcohols of 14.8% and above (remember these vines are very young), the word that ran through my tasting notes was ‘elegant’.
Check out my youtube video of Montes’ other new project: a Garnacha vineyard planted in Mosel style at a whopping 30,000 vines per hectare.
