Finishing dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 11, 2008 04:19:01

Posted By Wine With Karl

In my previous blog I took you through the reception, first and second course. To wind up this dinner at Saltaire with Aurelio Montes, we have the third and final course. Our third course was a slow braised lamb shank, with rosemary tomato jus, chatrelle, fresh tyme risotto and pattypans (a kind of squash). As you can excpect a slow braised lamb shank is going to be full of flavour and needing some big red wines to complement it. The two Montes wines we had were the2005 Alpha M and the 2005 Purple Angel. The Alpha M is 95 point WIne Spectator rated. This is a Bordeaux blend, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon with cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. Deep purple in the glass, with a round mouthfeel. Lots of dark fruit and spice, with a dry oak finish. The second wine was the Purple Angel. Aurelio Montes has many angels drawn on different wine labels for the winery. The angels take care of the winery. This one is primarily carmenere (Chile's signature grape) with a small amount of petit verdot for extra colour and tannin. Carmenere typically has a capsicum aroma/flavour and it was evident in this wine. But it also had cherry oak and vanilla. Both are big wines, but I think the Alpha M paired slightly better with the lamb shank.

The final course, is of course, dessert. Our dessert was everything to do with chocolate. There was a cocoa tulle, a dark chocolate truffle, pot du creme, and a peanut butter cup. What to pair with these chocolates? The Montes Folly. This is a 100% syrah. The story behind the folly has a few versions, with one being people telling Aurelio that syrah cannot ripen in Chile and that it would be a folly to try. Again this wine is deep ruby in the glass like the other big reds from Montes. Aromas of cassis, vanilla oak and licorice. Yet the tannins were very supple, which again is a trademark for Aurelio's reds. Red wine and chocolate are a great pairing and this worked very well with the dark chocolate.

Please take a chance and try one of the wines from Montes. You won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Dinner with Aurelio Montes

October 7, 2008 05:23:26

Posted By Wine With Karl

Yesterday evening was exceptional. Through the South World Wine Society and Whitehall Agencies, I and 55 other people sat down to dinner at Saltaire in West Vancouver and enjoy the wines from Aurelio Montes. Mr. Montes' winery is the 4th largest winery in Chile. He bought to us:

- Montes Leyda Sauvignon Blanc
- Montes Classic Cabernet Sauvignon
- Montes Limited Selection Cabernet Carmenere
- Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon
- Alpha Chardonnay
- Alpha M cabernet sauvignon blend
- Folly 100% Syrah
- Purple Angel Carmenere Petit Verdot

The Alpha, Folly, and Purple Angel wines are all Premium wines from Montes. Aurelio is a tall imposing man, but when you talk to him, he is very nice and down to earth. He told us of his experience of starting the Montes winery and growing it to the point where he was able to open a winery in Argentina in 2002, and another winery in Napa Valley in 2006! All the Montes' red wines have silky smooth tannins. Aurelio says it is because he likes to let their red grapes hang on the vine as long as possible. His Sauvignon Blanc was very much in the New World, New Zealand style. It had good acidity and a wonderful herbal nose (and paired very nicely with the chilled black tiger prawns with garlic aioli appetizer).

Our first course was a sweet curry creamed orzo which was paired with the Alpha Chardonnay. The Chardonnay comes from the Casablanca valley. It is oak fermented and aged in the barrel for one year. The lees (the dead yeast cells) are stirred in the barrel regularly to add a creamy texture/flavour to this wine. It had a wonderful pear and vanilla aroma. The creaminess of the wine and the full pear/apple/spice flavour paired nicely with the orzo.

The second course was a smoked black cod. It was paired with the Cabernet Carmenere blend and with the Alpha Cabernet blend. I thought the Alpha Cab with fuller body and firmer tannins help up well with the strong smoky flavour from the cod.

More to come for the third course and final course in my next blog.

You can visit the Montes website for more info.