Montes to produce wines in the Douro
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Leading Chilean producer Montes is set to produce wines in the Douro.
Chairman and winemaker Aurelio Montes revealed he has been visiting the region looking for investment opportunities.
‘I’ve been sniffing around the region for the past two years and sent my winemakers to Churchill’s to do vintages to dip a toe in the water,’ he told decanter.com.
The move could be imminent. ‘If we really go for it I would do it this year,’ he said.
The intention is to produce still red wines, and Montes plans to source grapes and lease wineries initially, rather than plant vineyards and build a winery.
He is also considering working in collaboration with a well-known winery in the region.
The producer is interested in both the traditional Port-making Upper Douro area and the Douro Superior, close to the Spanish border.
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‘What is so appealing about the area is its unique varieties. The world is looking for something beyond Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir.’
Written by Rebecca Gibb
Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).