OVERVIEW

With grapes sourced from the best vineyards of Apalta and Marchigue, just two hours outside of the Chilean capital, Santiago, the Purple Angel from Viña Montes has become one of the most recognised and celebrated wines of Chile and embodies the voluptuous, fresh and fruit forward style of the Colchagua Valley.

Dense and concentrated yet fresh and energetic, this smooth, dark chocolate and black fruit bomb of a Carmenere has to be one of the best value fine wines in the world.

CRITIC REVIEWS 

Consistently one of the best and most layered carmeneres from Chile and, indeed, the world. Intriguing Cuban cigar and roasted bay-leaf character to the blackcurrants, blackberries and exotic spices. Some sandalwood, black chocolate, cedar and baked red chili pepper, too. Full-bodied, creamy and voluptuous, but still fresh and juicy, with dried-leaf, dark-olive and finely ground cocoa-powder character. Dusty tannins and a long, refined finish. A blend of 92% carmenere from Apalta (46%) and Marchigue(46%) and 8% petit verdot from Apalta. Drink or hold. 98 Points. James Suckling

FOOD PAIRING INSPIRATION

A bold and oak laden wine that will need a hefty meat dish to stand up to it. We recommend roast lamb or beef to accompany the Purple Angel; a great Christmas day wine.

VINTAGE AND WINEMAKING

2019 in the Colchagua Valley benefitted from a long, dry summer but without extremes of heat. The controlled water stress in the vineyard enabled good fruit set and veraison which resulted in great colour, concentration and tannin. The Carmenere grapes reached full phenolic maturity with clean musts.

The wine benefits from a long maceration process after fermentation to extract colour and tannin and is then racked and transferred to 80% new French oak for 16-18 months before bottling.

PRODUCER NOTES

The most well regarded producer in Chile and one of the pioneers who put Chile on the new world wine map. Montes strive for wine perfection and innovate continuously. They were among the first to create a super-Chilean or 'icon' wine with their Alpha 'M in 1996', later followed up by the majority Carmenere Purple Angel in 2005.

Committed to sustainability Montes have one of the strongest records of any producer around the world shunning chemicals and conserving water and even using grazing llamas to save on herbicides in the vineyard. The wines of Montes are also vegan.

NEED ADVICE? ASK A SOMM LIVE

Any questions about this wine? Creating a wine list for a function or planning a special meal or gift? Use the chat facility to speak live to one of our in-house sommeliers who can assist in your wine selection.

SERVICE AND STORAGE TIPS

This wine should be stored around 12°C and served between 16-18°C. We recommend a minimum of 3 hours decanting before approaching this wine.

DELIVERY INFORMATION

Delivery is free when you spend over £150. For orders under this amount then a £9.99 delivery charge will be applied.

We use a tracked UPS delivery service who provide text and email tracking updates.

Every bottle sold by CoolerSomm is subject to our quality guarantee. If a wine is corked or faulty, we will replace it.

2020 Purple Angel, Viña Montes, Valle de Colchagua, Chile