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Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
RedChile2017
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-12-05 · Published 2026-09-14 · Updated 2026-09-14
At a glance
No outlet-named score found for the 2017 vintage · none listed on Vivino
Market note: Of the eight Montes Alpha wines, Cabernet Sauvignon is the best known, with more than five times as many ratings (66,770) as the Alpha Merlot covered elsewhere in this magazine (12,101, 3.8 overall). The vintage average has held between 3.8 and 4.2 for nearly 30 years since 1996.
What this wine is
Montes's founding in 1988 and its outsized presence in Korea — 17 million cumulative bottles as of July 2025, the No. 2 country by volume, No. 1 per capita — are covered in this magazine's Montes Alpha Merlot 2015 piece. Here the focus is on the de facto flagship grape of the Alpha series: Cabernet Sauvignon.
Montes Alpha spans eight wines — Cabernet, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% varietal, sourced from multiple vineyards across Colchagua Valley, at 14% alcohol. The producer's note: "Deep ruby red color, the expression of Cabernet Sauvignon is evident, providing structure and elegance. Lots of berry fruits and hints of tobacco and vanilla. Promising abundant, soft, rounded tannins."
What the world says
I couldn't find an outlet-named review of the 2017 vintage, and none is listed on Vivino either. The Alpha series's Cabernet and Carmenère are generally said to score in the low 90s with James Suckling, but that hasn't been confirmed for this specific vintage.
The Vivino community of 5,727 averages 3.9, with 70% at 4 stars or above. The label overall (66,770 ratings) matches at 3.9 — over five times the rating count of the Montes Alpha Merlot covered elsewhere in this magazine (12,101, 3.8 overall), which tells you Cabernet is simply the more popular label within the house. Keywords lead with oak, vanilla and tobacco (2,853 mentions) ahead of fruit (2,234), then blackberry, blackcurrant and plum, then leather and earth, then cherry and raspberry. Structurally, intensity is 4.2, tannin 3.3 and acidity 3.0 — noticeably firmer tannin than the Alpha Merlot's 2.0. The vintage average has not strayed outside 3.8–4.2 for nearly 30 years since 1996.
"Always great! Became the wine of the house lately... Plum, cherry, blueberry aromas, medium-full body and long finish. Buy a case!" — Vivino review, Nov 2020, 4 stars
"Impressive leather, vegetal and spicy notes. On the mouth the blackberry, sweet spices, organic and earth notes. Long persistence." — Vivino review, Jan 2021, 4 stars
How I drank it
December 5, 2019, 3.5 stars. The note is "Good balanced, vanilla."
I drank two Montes bottles in the same sitting that day — this Alpha Cabernet and the Limited Selection Cabernet Sauvignon–Carmenère 2017 — and gave them the exact same 3.5. The notes read almost identically ("Good balanced." / "Good balanced, vanilla."). Of the four bottles that day, Stag's Leap ARTEMIS 2016 topped out at 4.5, and Napa by N.A.P.A. Michael's Red 2015 got 4.
Compared with the Montes Alpha Merlot 2015 (tasted the same year, November 13, my score 3, community 3.8), my score here is half a point higher. The community gap runs the same direction — Merlot at 3.8, Cabernet at 3.9, with Cabernet slightly ahead. My 3.5 sits 0.4 below the Cabernet community average of 3.9. Alpha Cabernet appears twice more after this: 4 stars for Montes Purple Angel 2018 on October 4, 2023, and 4 stars for Alpha Cabernet 2020 on March 16, 2024 — my Montes scores trend from the 3s up into the 4s over time.
Vivino community data
2017 vintage rating distribution (5727 ratings, average 3.9)
| 5★ | 520 (9%) | |
| 4★ | 3481 (61%) | |
| 3★ | 1561 (27%) | |
| 2★ | 127 (2%) | |
| 1★ | 38 (1%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 2853 | oak 951 · vanilla 607 · tobacco 517 · chocolate 266 · coffee 135 |
| Black fruit | 2234 | blackberry 638 · blackcurrant 461 · plum 267 · cassis 221 · black fruit 204 |
| Earth & leather | 790 | leather 294 · earthy 171 · smoke 113 · mushroom 24 · graphite 22 |
| Red fruit | 641 | cherry 319 · red fruit 96 · strawberry 89 · raspberry 75 · red currant 16 |
| Spice | 631 | pepper 298 · mint 80 · licorice 70 · eucalyptus 43 · cinnamon 37 |
| Vegetal | 122 | bell pepper 39 · green bell pepper 29 · grass 17 · tomato 8 |
| Microbio | 77 | cheese 43 · cream 23 · oil 4 · banana 2 |
Structure: Acidity 3.0/5 · Intensity 4.2/5 · Tannin 3.3/5 · Sweetness 1.7/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 66770 ratings, average 3.9)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 4.2 | 38 |
| 1997 | 3.9 | 53 |
| 1998 | 4.0 | 41 |
| 1999 | 4.2 | 87 |
| 2000 | 4.1 | 59 |
| 2001 | 4.1 | 99 |
| 2002 | 3.8 | 113 |
| 2003 | 3.9 | 145 |
| 2004 | 4.0 | 177 |
| 2005 | 4.0 | 306 |
| 2006 | 3.9 | 467 |
| 2007 | 3.9 | 878 |
| 2008 | 3.9 | 1057 |
| 2009 | 3.8 | 3163 |
| 2010 | 3.8 | 3709 |
| 2011 | 3.8 | 4481 |
| 2012 | 3.8 | 4955 |
| 2013 | 3.9 | 3694 |
| 2014 | 3.9 | 5165 |
| 2015 | 3.8 | 5115 |
| 2016 | 3.9 | 3788 |
| 2017 | 3.9 | 5727 |
| 2018 | 3.9 | 5565 |
| 2019 | 3.9 | 2896 |
| 2020 | 3.9 | 4312 |
| 2021 | 4.0 | 2641 |
| 2022 | 3.9 | 3751 |
| 2023 | 4.0 | 159 |
My original note (Vivino, 2019-12-05)
“Good balanced, vanilla.”
Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon?
A full-bodied red from Montes in Chile's Colchagua Valley. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon at 14% alcohol. A dense style of blackberry and blackcurrant led by oak, vanilla and tobacco; Vivino 3.9 (2017 vintage, 5,727 ratings). No formal critic score has been confirmed.
How does it compare to Montes Alpha Merlot?
Another label in the same eight-wine Montes Alpha series. Cabernet has been rated by over five times as many people (66,770 vs 12,101) and averages slightly higher on Vivino (3.9 vs 3.8). See this magazine's Montes Alpha Merlot 2015 piece for the same brand's other face.
How much does it cost?
US$26 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Aug 2026).
What food pairs with it?
Per Vivino: beef, lamb, poultry, game. With tannin at 3.3, it's built for hearty meat dishes — steak or Korean-style marinated short ribs both work. Suggested drinking window: 2020–2027.