Montes’ Cherub is a seductive, elegant, dry wine, with an intense cherry-pink color. It is a well-made expression of the grape variety and terroir. On the nose and the palate, it demonstrates a distinctive Syrah character with spiciness and hints of strawberries, rose and orange peel. With good fruit concentration, it shows richness in texture across the palate that leads to a delightfully long finish. It has a strong backbone of acidity and a slight amount of tannin that gives the wine a defined structure. Serve as an aperitif, with BBQ food, poultry and salads.

Montes was created in 1988 when four prominent figures in the Chilean wine industry decided to set up a boutique winery, with the aim of producing small quantities of high quality wines largely for export. They initially called the operation "Discover wines" and established a winery in Curicó, 200 km south of Santiago. Initially, all the fruit came from the Montes estate and the Los Nogales farm. The operation was an immediate success and very quickly demand outstripped supply. Today Montes produces a range of award-winning, varietal wines from Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

After several years of experimentation, Aurelio Montes settled on producing a rosé from Syrah, a grape he made famous in Chile with the country’s first-ever Ultra Premium 100% Syrah called Montes’ Folly in 2002.

As explained by Aurelio, “I decided to make a rosé from Syrah grown in our Archangel Estate in Marchigüe, in the Colchagua Valley. Our vineyards here are in a coastal area which provides the perfect temperature and conditions for producing a lovely, ripe rosé. I chose Syrah because this grape has a wonderful purple-red color and gives fresh yet structured wines that can be enjoyed as an apéritif or with food.”

Located only 11 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the cool breezes from the western facing slopes, together with the loamy soils, result in a slow maturation of the grapes which allowed for the perfect balance of citrusy acidity and bursting, ripe fruit. The Syrah grapes were hand-picked and sorted to ensure that only the finest grapes were used to make Cherub.

The grapes were gently crushed, then transported by gravity to the tanks below in the winery where they then underwent “Vin d’une Nuit”. This is a process of cold maceration where the must is left in contact with the skins overnight (for approximately eight hours) to fully extract color and aromas and infuse the wine with flavor. Once the juice was racked until totally clear, it underwent alcoholic fermentation using selected yeast at 50º F for 20 days. To maintain the freshness of the wine, it did not undergo oak aging.