After my last post on Kai being a candidate for Chile’s best Carmenere, I decided to try another candidate for that crown: Montes Purple Angel.
Purple Angel has to be one of the most popular Chilean reds in the US based on what I can see in the English language wine forums and on social media. It seems popular among Napa wine lovers especially. For that reason, my experience with other Montes red wines, and some of the high scores from certain critics, my guess is that this will be an opulent and well-oaked red. The question for me will be if it can still maintain Carmenere qualities at the same time or will it just be an excellent but generic modern Bordeaux blend.
Around 8,000 cases are made of Purple Angel, so it’s something you may find in large US stores like Total Wine or even Costco. The price used to hover around $50 in the US, but now I see it for $75+, which speaks to the increasing demand. However, that’s still cheaper than the 100,000+ CLP ($120+) it costs in Chile, so that’s why I’m drinking this wine while I’m in California.
Another interesting fact about Montes Purple Angel is that they use Gregorian chants to serenade the wine while it’s in barrel (read our article about music and wine). Hence, the angel. You can read more about Montes in a previous review of their Sparkling Angel.
Tasting Notes
2014 Montes Purple Angel Carmenere Colchagua
92% Carmenere, 8% Petit Verdot. Comes from vines in Apalta and Marchigüe. 18 months in new French oak barrels.
Lots of upforward fruit and velvety feel. Toasty coffee. Medium-low acid. Some warmth. Obvious likeability for many given its upfront lushness, but not obviously Carmenere. I tasted it next to some top Old and New World Merlot, and it was hard to distinguish this as Carmenere from the Merlots. It could easily be a well-oaked Napa Merlot or modern Right Bank Bordeaux wine. At about 8 years of age, I wonder if it was even more lush and structured 5 years ago, so maybe this is in an in between stage. Maybe I’m underrating this some because I was hoping for more varietal characteristics, but it’s a 92 for me now.
