AURELIO MONTES needs no introduction. He did the unthinkable in the late 1980s and early 1990s when he catapulted a new wine label from Chile to the premium wine export scene with much success. The founder and wine maker of the world famous Vina Montes was back in Manila last Saturday, and I was very fortunate to finally get a chance to meet this iconic man. I have always considered Aurelio Montes as the Robert Mondavi of Chile for his trailblazing contribution to Chile’s wine quality image, as what the Napa maverick did for California.
TOP SELLING PREMIUM BRAND IN THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippines has a growing wine market and is up close to 10% in 2017, but the bulk of the wines — approximately 75% — are still very much cheaper entry-level wines (retailing below P300), with price-sensitivity as highest concern among wine buyers, over quality.
But one brand that seemed to have overcome this and in fact build a decent volume out of a more challenging price point is Montes. The Montes Classic range, its lowest price range, retails at around P700/bottle, already a much higher price point than even the Reserva or Gran Reserva wines of most Chilean brands in the country. It does help that Vina Montes is exclusively represented in the Philippines by one of the biggest wine importers and retail groups in the country, Philippine Wine Merchants. Ralph Joseph, the flamboyant wine pioneer, and one of the four Joseph brothers (the other are Bobby, Ronnie, and Raymond) running the company, is also the de facto wine ambassador of Montes.
Ralph enjoys Chardonnay, and he confessed to being the staunchest Montes fan, as well as Montes Alpha Chardonnay’s single largest consumer in the country. Aurelio recalled that the business relationship with the Josephs started more than 20 years ago, and Vina Montes is now on its 30th anniversary, so the partnership has been extremely strong and long-lived.
LIFE BEGINS AT 40?
At the age of 39, a husband and a father of five young kids, Aurelio Montes, equipped with a dream, passion, and vision, took a huge risk and left corporate wine making to join three other business partners to create a new winery with the objective of creating wines with far more superior quality over those being produced in Chile at that time. The mantra from the start has always been quality, quality, and quality!
In my casual chat with Aurelio, he mentioned that their initial target was really making wines for export. Export contributes over 90% of the Vina Montes business. When I asked Aurelio why the domestic market is so small, he explained: “At that time, we knew the Chilean domestic market was probably not ready to embrace us, as we were a new winery with an unknown new brand (called Discover Wine at first), and selling wine at higher price than most Chilean brands. So, it was a conscious effort from the very beginning to go export, where we stand a chance.”
He continued “Look at the other huge Chilean wine brands — they may be a thousand times bigger than us in the domestic front, but in the export field, we are competing quite close to them. When we started, export was not big yet, so we capitalized on that opportunity.”
Vina Montes has been churning out blockbuster wine after blockbuster wine, starting with the first true premium Chilean wine, Montes Alpha in the late 1980s, to the Montes M (Bordeaux blend), the Montes Folly (Syrah), the Montes Purple Angel (majority Carmenere), and the most recent one — also its most premium to-date — the Montes Taita (majority Cabernet Sauvignon).
All the Montes ultra premium wine extensions are getting cult followings too, and are mostly sold on allocation. The Taita only has a 3,000 bottle production per vintage.
THE MONTES ANGEL
The image of an angel that is a regular fixture on the Montes label is a brilliant stroke, and I inquired about its origin. Aurelio was only too happy to share the story:
“The angel image in the label was the idea of my late business partner and good friend Douglas Murray. Douglas was a car enthusiast, and he loved cars as much as our wines. But sadly he was not a good driver even if he had nice cars to drive. That was a bad combination. Douglas had two really severe car accidents. In both cases, when you saw the car wreck, you would have easily thought the driver would be very hurt and badly injured. But in both cases, Douglas got away with only minor scratches and nothing else. He thanked his guardian angel for saving him. So, he told me, why don’t we make the angel our fifth partner in Vina Montes. And that is what happened, so the angel was made part of our label.”
Douglas Murray was one the three original partners at Vina Montes and he passed away in 2010. He had been credited by Aurelio and others in the industry as a marketing and sales genius, and most instrumental in the success of Vina Montes in the export arena.
DREAM WINE TO MAKE
Despite all the success, the accolades, the high scores, Aurelio Montes is still beaming with energy and enthusiasm. When I asked him of a dream wine he still wants to create for Vina Montes, he was quick to respond: “I am still looking to make another Cabernet Sauvignon wine. I know I already have the Montes M and the Montes Taita, but I am still searching for a vineyard to do an even much better Cabernet Sauvignon. I believe in this varietal, and how good Cabernet Sauvignon can be in the right location in Chile.”
No doubt, this new wine will soon be in the horizon, and the wine world cannot wait to taste this, even if a hefty price tag will most likely be attached. I actually tasted the Montes Taita for the first time at the same wine dinner event with Aurelio, in Finestra at Solaire Casino Hotel, and this 2011 vintage was quite ripe on the nose, creamy, white chocolate, silky on the palate, very concentrated, long with luscious bitter-sweet finish. I heard from Raymond Joseph that this limited production wine is not yet available but will be arriving soon.
Finally, each Montes wine label includes the phrase “From Chile with Pride.” Actually to wine industry people and wine consumers, the other way is equally true — Vina Montes is definitely the pride of Chile too.
The author has been a member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at protegeinc@yahoo.com. He is also on Twitter at twitter.com/sherwinlao.
