Montes Limited Selection Leyda Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2025
Montes Limited Selection Leyda Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Central Valley, Chile
Vintage: 2025
Bottle size: 75cl
Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
ABV: 13.5%
The wine is pale yellow in colour with green hues. On the nose, there are fresh and elegant aromas of passion fruit and pineapple, together with green bell pepper and orange blossom. The palate is juicy and refreshing with layers of vibrant yellow grapefruit and mineral notes culminating in a long finish.
The vineyards are located in the Leyda Valley, approximately 15km from the Pacific coast, on moderately sloping hillsides with granite soils that contain a significant percentage of clay. The vines are planted at a density of 5,555 plants per hectare and trained to vertical shoot position. Pruning aims to achieve low yields (up to 7,000 kilograms per hectare) and slightly early ripening to produce expressive and fresh fruit. Leaf canopies are kept intact until harvest to maintain good bunch coverage, which enables the fruit to reach harvest with very good levels of aromas in the skins.
Grapes were cold soaked at temperatures below 10ºC for at least 10 hours, to extract aromas, and then separated from the skins and racked to a stainless steel tank, where they remained for 12–24 hours before racking. Alcoholic fermentation took place at temperatures of 11–12ºC for 21 days, and once this finished, sulphites were added and the wine was racked. The wine had no contact with oak during ageing, but was stabilised before bottling.
When they started producing Montes Alpha in 1987, they needed balanced yields and to harvest when the grapes were ripe. They adapted these practices to all their vineyards and the results were startling. Montes’ own vineyards now cover 75% of their requirements. The other 25% of fruit is produced in vineyards that they have planted, cultivated and picked. In other words, they control everything except the ownership of the land. In addition to this control over the vineyard, they also sell in bulk what is not good enough to go into the bottles that carry their label. Having made the selection in the vineyard, they are able to make a further selection in the winery. The results are there for you to taste. In 2020, Aurelio Montes’ illustrious career was recognised in the form of the International Wine Challenge’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
https://www.monteswines.com