EVENTS AND NEWS
Montes Inaugurates New Winery with Feng Shui Touch
January 27, 2005
On December 2, 2004, the pioneering Chilean winery Viña Montes inaugurated a new state-of-the-art winery that incorporates not only the latest technological advances but also principles from the ancient Asian philosophy of Feng Shui.
With an investment of $6.5 million and capacity for 1.5 million liters (nearly 400,000 gallons), the new winery—located on Montes’ Apalta property in Chile’s Colchagua Valley—represents a qualitative leap in production of Viña Montes’ most acclaimed red wines, including the ultra premium Montes Alpha “M” and Montes Folly as well as the Montes Alpha series of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
(l to r) Founding Partners Alfredo Vidaurre, Aurelio Montes, and Douglas Murray at the inauguration
“This is the most modern winery in Chile in terms of technical machinery, equipment and design, and it is capable of producing some of the best wine in the world,” states Alfredo Vidaurre, the winery’s executive director and a founding partner. Winemaker Aurelio Montes, who is also one of the three original partners, conducted extensive research—including visits to twenty leading wineries in Napa Valley and a tour of Australia, noted for its vinicultural prowess—before designing and supervising all technical aspects of the new winery.
“The design and construction of this winery constitutes a landmark of great relevance in the advancement of our business,” Montes says with pride. “We wanted this installation to reflect the most modern and sophisticated of all winemaking technology available today…a gravitational system, small tanks, and automatic equipment with temperature control.”
An International Collaboration The construction of Viña Montes’ new winery, or bodega, began more than a year ago, utilizing an international team including the South African firm Technique Trading, responsible for the conceptual engineering; the local Poch Asociados carrying out the basic engineering; Chilean architect Samuel Claro, of the studio Claro y Swinburn, executing the design; landscape architect Adriana Edwards for the exterior design, which includes a lagoon, park and gardens; designer Paula Gutiérrez for the interior design, and also Feng Shui expert Silvia Galleguillos.
The Feng Shui Effect
The fountain at the heart of the winery
Architect Samuel Claro describes Galleguillos’ Feng Shui contributions to the project. “She defined the areas for us according to the requirements of this philosophy and explained what should be done with respect to water,” says Claro. “In Feng Shui, this element represents energy, and it has to flow into the building in order to be concentrated in the winery. This is why, from these pools, [at the entrance] there is a walkway that leads to the second floor basin. This point is the exact geometric center of the winery. At this point, a skylight was installed to connect to infinity, the universe. All of the energy is right there,” he explains, indicating the very heart of Montes’ Apalta facility.
Applying Newton’s Law There are many factors that influence the quality of wine, but as a general rule, the less it is filtered, moved, pressed and pumped, the better. This is why the winery is equipped with Bücher-Vaslin presses which, while completely modern, still incorporate techniques used in 19th century wine-making. There are two main advances in this new equipment: the container that holds the grapes, which traditionally was made of wood, is now stainless steel and oxygen-free; and the lever, which before was manually operated, is now managed by computer.
However, most significant is the winery’s nod to Newton’s Law, expressed with its gravitational-flow system. At Viña Montes, the grapes are picked and gathered in small crates to minimize fruit breakage and oxidation. Then the crates are carefully stacked on a forklift, which lifts the fruit to the winery’s eight-meter-high (26-foot), concrete roof. From here begins the selection of the bunches, de-stemming, and berry selection, each process meticulously done by hand.
After this, a machine gently crushes the fruit. From the roof, the juice and pulp fall—the gravity effect—though ducts directly into stainless steel fermentation tanks. These tanks hold between 3,000 and 15,000 liters (792 and 3,963 gallons) and are equipped, within their double-panelled surfaces, with sophisticated temperature-control mechanisms. This computerized cooling and heating system assures proper fermentation because wine requires cold temperatures to prevent overheating, but also, on occasion—such as when the harvest comes late in the fall—wine may need a little heat to begin fermentation.
Elevator System and French Oak Casks Another element that Aurelio Montes incorporated in his effort to produce top quality wine is a unique elevator that contains a stainless steel holding tank. This system allows wine to be transferred throughout the winery without any type of pump but by simply the raising and lowering the tank-elevator.
The winery includes ten fermentation casks made of French oak, nine of which were brought directly from France; one was made in Chile by Tonelería Nacional of imported French oak. Each cask has a capacity for 10,000 liters (2,642 gallons) and a cooling system consisting of coils and a circulating refrigerant liquid.
While $6.5 million is a major capital investment, it represents the partners’ enthusiasm for the end result and continuing commitment to quality, with no detail too small to be considered in improving upon Montes’ best wines. From modest beginnings only 16 years ago, Viña Montes was, according to Aurelio Montes “the first to show that small players—without grand fortunes or generations in the industry—could be successful.”
Viña Montes was the first Chilean winery to venture into the super and ultra premium wine categories, a move that has significantly contributed to the national wine industry’s move to quality. The winery was a major player in the development of unknown valleys and corners of Chile, areas such as Apalta, Marchigue and Leyda. Viña Montes also pioneered hillside plantations (very new at the time to Chile) and was the first to develop the Syrah variety with its icon wine, Montes Folly.
Today, the founding partners’ hard work, vision, and dedication have come to fruition and Montes can be found in more than 70 countries. “We have surpassed our initial dream of 30,000 to 50,000 cases,” remarks Murray, “and are now, this year, nearing 500,000 cases.” With the help of their new partners, the Garcés and Barros families, Viña Montes’ original objective has not changed. “Our mission,” states Murray “is to produce the best wines we can and continue opening markets and bringing the Chilean flag to all the world.”
Contact
MontesAv. Del Valle 945, Of. 2611
Ciudad Empresarial, Huechuraba
Santiago 6583107
Chile
Tel: 56-2-248-4805 Visit their Website:
www.monteswines.com
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