2006 Montes Alpha Merlot
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Tasting notes
Ruby-red. Exotically perfumed bouquet of cherry-cola, black raspberry and sexy oak spices. Supple and gently sweet on the palate, with no rough edges to the vivid cherry and dark berry flavors. Suave and alluring merlot with good finishing breadth and lingering spiciness. This is already delicious.
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Josh Raynolds
Jay S Miller, Wine Advocate
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The 2006 Alpha Merlot Apalta Vineyard saw eighty percent of the wine spend 12 months in French oak, the balance in stainless steel. Dark ruby/purple in color, it has a stylish nose of cedar, spice box, red currants, and black currants. Supple-textured with ample ripe fruit, it has a bit of sweet tannin and attractive flavors leading to a medium length finish. Drink it over the next 4-6 years. Under the enlightened leadership of Aurelio Montes, the Montes winery remains one of the standard-bearers for Chilean wines. The Carmenere-based Purple Angel is one of the two or three best of its type; the Folly is arguably Chile’s finest Syrah, and the Montes Alpha M one of the Cabernet-based icons. Importer: TGIC, Woodland Hills, CA; tel. (800) 924-0300