Montes was established in 1988 by Aurelio Montes, Douglas Murray, Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand, with the aim of producing the best wines in Chile from the best regions. Aurelio Montes is widely credited with pioneering Chile’s quality revolution. His ability to identify potential in previously unknown sites, has led to the creation of appellations which now produce some of Chile’s finest wines. The Colchagua Valley is a perfect example of this. Aurelio first came to the area in his 20s and became fascinated by the then-barren landscape of Apalta, where Montes are based today. Apalta translates to ‘poor soils’, referencing the area's alluvial soils comprised predominantly of sandy loam and clay, as well as granite on the steep hillsides. Though a difficult environment for traditional agriculture, Aurelio sensed its potential for high-quality grape growing. Starting in these vineyards, he applied a rigorous, quality-focused approach to farming, resulting in low yields and perfectly ripe fruit. Their long-standing dedication to sustainability has resulted in them becoming B-Corp certified in 2024.

The vineyards are in the Aconcagua Costa region, where the proximity to the Pacific Ocean and influence of cool sea breezes produce the perfect conditions to enable slow and full ripening. The variable sandy to sandy-loam soils lend complexity to the wine, with great cool-climate typicity. All the vineyards are vertically trained and drip-irrigated. The clusters are evenly distributed on the vines, which keeps the grapes well-ventilated and healthy.

The grapes were harvested by hand. Harvest was carried out early in the morning to maintain the lowest possible temperature in the grapes until their arrival at the winery. Upon arrival, the grapes were sorted by hand and underwent a combination of whole bunch pressing, pressing of destemmed grapes and cold maceration for several hours, allowing the team to play with the aromatic extraction from the skins and level of structure. Fermentation took place at controlled temperatures of between 13°C and 14°C, for around 25 days. 30% of the wine was fermented in new oak barrels and remained there for 12 months before blended and prepared for bottling. Finally, the wine was filtered before being bottled.

salmon tartare, lobster, fresh shellfish, ripe cheeses, and with hot dishes such as crab gratin and mildly sauced white meats and pastas.