The Auswine Forum

Any pointers to finding some of the BETTER reds form Chile in Australia.

Outside of Dan Murphy's - who imports some of the Montes range, I have seen little.....

particularly interested in Almaviva, de Martino, Clos de Lapostolle (Apalta)

wine.hcg wrote:Any pointers to finding some of the BETTER reds form Chile in Australia.

Outside of Dan Murphy's - who imports some of the Montes range, I have seen little.....

particularly interested in Almaviva, de Martino, Clos de Lapostolle (Apalta)

I know Alma Viva has an importer, a Brisbane retailer has told me he can get it. It's dear though, likely to be about $A170 on the shelves here.

Do Dans import the Concha y Toro Don Melchor? I'm told its hard to get here, but I'm sure Iv'e seensomeone say they have it.

I have to ask though - why are you seeking these out? You can get similar wines made in Australia for much less despite all the taxes.

Andrew

Yes, CyT Don Melchor was (is?) available at DM's as well ...

I spent several months in Sth America recently and a marvellous week in Chile doing wineries and wine bars... should have stayed longer!

The Chilean wines are DIFFERENT and are much more approachable earlier than Aussie wines (which I love and collect as well).

For less than A$16 per bottle the Montes Alpha CS is wonderful value and REALLY opens up after 45-60 minutes ... the Don Melchor is similarly a good approachable wine in a different league, together with Montes Alpha M (while good is not really worth 5 times the Alpha), and the likes of Almaviva and Clos de Lapostolle --> these are world-beating wines, and a rare treat to enjoy.

I also enjoy "different" grape styles -- so the Chilean Carmenere (and blends are interesting and appealing to me ... different to Merlot.

Montes Purple Angel is new and a WONDERFUL drop, again best after 30-60 minutes+

There is little Syrah happening in Chile .. and Montes Folly is amongst the VERY best and rates right up there with the best in Australia (IMHO).

Only 750 cases (actually 750 dozen, as they are packed in 6-btl boxes)) are made each year..so they are RARE and hard to find. I sought out Purple Angel and Folly all through Chile - none available at the winery, retailers, even one of the BEST somelliers (at the Ritz Carlton) only had 2 bottles of PA and 2 bottles of Folly left in his supply (and thet were his privately, I believe). I went online and could find but a handful of wine stores in the US and Europe that stocked either one ... so imagine my utter delight when I found them on the SHELF of a Club in Singapore as I was returning home -- all the stock soon disappeared -:) both from the retailer and the distributors....

A long-winded explanation, but the value is actually quite good relative to really equivalent Aussie reds... as an example, DM sells Montes Alpha CS, Merlot, etc cheaper than wiens stores in Singapore, the USA and even in Chile. Similarly, I paid between US$45 and $60 for 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 Almaviva in Singapore -- the same or less than in the USA and about 40% less than in Chile !! (it was US$100+ at the winery and retailers).

I am looking for all the "odd-bins" at DM's or other places - floating around -- in stores where people don;t really know what they have... and am prepared to freight it to Sydney from wherever I find it..

Unfortunately we didnt spend the time in Chile that you did if we had extra days, we might well have looked at more restaurants and wine bars. We only visited Santiago, Isla Negra, Vina del Mar, and it was more or less a stopoff on the way to and from Peru and Bolivia. If the opportunity came up I would go back and have a closer look at CHile, I think it is a country on the rise, and if it continues on the same path, in 15 years or so it could be a genuine economic force.

We didnt drink much at all, but the cheaper wines we tried were very good value. Even the economy class red on Lan Chile left Qantas' offerings for dead.

A few of us drank the Don Melchor about a month ago, and in the Australian context it wasnt that different to an Aussie warm climate Cabernet, albeit a very good one (think Penfolds Bin 707 or similar).

I understand your point about "different" though - Carmenere was a new thing for me, but unfortunately the only one we tried was not very nice Casa Silva I think it was. We saw Syrah and Pinot Noir in restaurants, but didnt try them.

I'll be opening one of my Chilean bottles tomorrow - I'll post some notes through the week!

cheers

Andrew