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Montes Alpha Merlot Colchagua Valley 2015
RedChile2015
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-11-13 · Published 2026-09-09 · Updated 2026-09-09
At a glance
In one line
3.0/5 — lower than Vivino's 3.8 average · world avg price US$15 · The Merlot from the best-selling wine brand in Korea.
I could not find a major-publication score for the 2015 Merlot · no critic listed on Vivino · the Alpha Cabernet and Carmenère routinely score in the low 90s from James Suckling
Market note: Of the eight Montes Alpha wines (Cabernet, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay), the Merlot sells less in Korea than the Cabernet and Carmenère. Across all vintages the label has 12,000 Vivino ratings and has barely moved from 3.7–4.0 in twenty years. Montes exports 95% of its production to some 110 countries; by sales Korea ranks second after China, and first per capita (interviews, 2025–2026).
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“Typical merlot”
What I learned today: a taste that always sits in the same place still becomes an evening like no other, depending on who was standing next to you.
Monday lunch, the year-end tax forms went around the office. The same boxes I filled in last year, filled in again. Name, address, same boxes, same order. The coworker next to me laughed. "Same every year, huh?" In the evening Minjae was already at the bar. Master Seo poured each of us a glass of red from the same bottle.
Plum, black cherry, and one grain of pepper at the end. A little chocolate behind it. A round glass with no sharp corners. Minjae said, "Pretty safe," and I put my nose in once more. Even a safe smell comes with a date. I have the kind of nose that carries a scent all the way back to its day.
That one grain of pepper behind the plum brought back the kitchen sink. Late autumn when I was twenty-one, a Wednesday evening with cold rain drumming on the window. On that night of endlessly changing glasses, we ran out of glasses on the table and Father rinsed some at the sink. I stood beside him wiping them dry with a towel. He poured a little red into one rinsed glass, took a sip standing up, and handed it to me. Plum, then pepper. We stood at the sink and shared the smell of one glass. It was the only glass that night we drank without sitting down. I don't know the bottle's name.
I opened the notebook. "Typical merlot." Three stars. On a night with sixteen bottles written down, it's one of the lines he passed over fastest. Today I also learned that merlot is the name of a grape. The bottle was Montes Alpha Merlot. Master Seo said there's a winged angel on the label. I stuck a wine-name Post-it into the notebook. Maybe to Father "typical" wasn't a flaw. Maybe it meant a glass you could drink standing at the sink.
On the way home I touched the envelope of forms in my bag again. Same boxes, same name, every year. What I learned today: a taste that always sits in the same place still becomes an evening like no other, depending on who was standing next to you.
What this wine is
There is a saying in Korea: 'You may not know wine, but you know Montes.' Montes was founded in 1988 (the groundwork was laid in 1987) by four people — winemaker Aurelio Montes, marketer Douglas Murray, finance man Alfredo Vidaurre and technical director Pedro Grand. In a Chile that made nothing but bulk wine, it was the first house to set out to make premium wine for export, and the first Montes Alpha Cabernet was where it began. The angel on the label is the guardian angel Murray believed in all his life. Steep hillside vineyards in Apalta, Colchagua, the planting of Syrah, and the top labels Alpha M, Folly and Purple Angel followed; today 95% of production goes to some 110 countries.
Korea is special even by those standards. Montes has been imported into Korea for 26 years, since the late 1990s; in April 2019 it became the first single wine brand in Korea to pass 10 million cumulative bottles, reaching 16 million in April 2024 and 17 million by July 2025. By sales Korea is Montes' second-largest market after China, and the largest per head. Being served at the 2005 APEC leaders' dinner in Busan and the 2019 Korea–Chile state banquet has become part of the brand story too.
The Montes Alpha Merlot is one of the eight Alpha wines, sourced from the El Arcángel estate at Marchigüe in Colchagua, on decomposed granite. I could not find a technical sheet for the 2015; going by Vivino's registered composition and the trade listings it is 90% Merlot and 10% Carmenère, 12 months in French oak, 14% alcohol. The current release (2021) has moved to 10% Cabernet Franc from Apalta in place of the Carmenère, with only 55% of the wine going into barrel. The producer's note: "Ruby red. Concentrated fruit, a noseful of black cherry, hints of black pepper, notes of tobacco and sweet chocolate."
What the world says
I could not find a critic score for the 2015 Merlot. Where the Alpha Cabernet and Carmenère collect low-90s from Suckling every year, the Merlot is the quiet label that the critics rarely get around to.
The Vivino community of 970 averages 3.8, with 63% at 4 stars or above and 34% at 3. All 12,101 ratings across vintages also average 3.8, and from 2002 to 2022 no vintage average has strayed outside 3.7–4.0. Tasting the same for twenty years is this wine's identity. In the keywords oak, vanilla, tobacco and chocolate (528 mentions) come ahead of the fruit (394): plum, blackberry and blackcurrant, then leather and smoke, pepper and mint. The structure is the interesting part — intensity 3.9 but tannin 2.0 and acidity 2.0. Big on the nose, soft on the palate, which is why 'smooth' recurs in review after review. Several reviewers call it 'a Merlot with a Carmenère character'.
"A really nice Merlot from a top producer. Lovely plum and spice on a moderate finish. Very smooth with very good structure. Great value." — Vivino review, Mar 2019, 4 stars
"Montes equals quality. A Merlot with a Carmenère character — big ripe red fruit, herbs, spice and smoke. Full body, good density, juicy finish." — Vivino review, Oct 2018, 4 stars
"Deep ruby. Dark fruit and green bell pepper on the nose, blackberry, blackcurrant, coffee and tobacco. Medium-bodied, medium-plus acidity. Like a lighter Carmenère." — Vivino review, Mar 2019, 3.75 stars
How I drank it
November 13, 2019, 3 stars. The note is two words: "Typical merlot."
I logged sixteen bottles that day: Almaviva 4.5, Veuve Clicquot 4.5, Two Hands Shiraz 4.5, Tarapacá 3.5, Mouton Cadet 3, Kendall-Jackson 3, Graham's Port 1. Montes appears five more times after that: on December 5, 2019, the Limited Selection Cabernet-Carmenère 2017 and the Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 both got 3.5; on January 1, 2020, Alpha M 2015 got 3.5; on October 4, 2023, Purple Angel 2018 got 4; on March 16, 2024, Alpha Cabernet 2020 got 4.
My 3 is 0.8 below the community's 3.8. No critic score could be confirmed for the 2015 vintage. There is no re-tasting of the Alpha Merlot itself on record, and with a drinking window to 2028 it stays on the re-taste list.
Vivino community data
2015 vintage rating distribution (970 ratings, average 3.8)
| 5★ | 64 (7%) | |
| 4★ | 549 (57%) | |
| 3★ | 329 (34%) | |
| 2★ | 21 (2%) | |
| 1★ | 7 (1%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Oak | 528 | oak 186 · vanilla 121 · tobacco 86 · chocolate 52 · coffee 25 |
| Black fruit | 394 | plum 112 · blackberry 90 · blackcurrant 65 · black fruit 34 · blueberry 25 |
| Earth & leather | 168 | leather 67 · smoke 42 · earth 28 · cocoa 7 |
| Red fruit | 151 | cherry 44 · red fruit 42 · strawberry 19 · red cherry 17 · raspberry 10 |
| Spice | 86 | pepper 39 · mint 14 · licorice 10 · cinnamon 6 · eucalyptus 6 |
| Bread & nuts | 17 | toast 14 · hazelnut 2 |
Structure: Acidity 2.0/5 · Intensity 3.9/5 · Tannin 2.0/5 · Sweetness 2.0/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 12101 ratings, average 3.8)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 4.2 | 51 |
| 2004 | 3.9 | 33 |
| 2005 | 3.8 | 43 |
| 2006 | 3.8 | 89 |
| 2007 | 3.7 | 161 |
| 2008 | 3.7 | 205 |
| 2009 | 3.8 | 356 |
| 2010 | 3.7 | 694 |
| 2011 | 3.7 | 733 |
| 2012 | 3.8 | 1096 |
| 2013 | 3.8 | 1287 |
| 2014 | 3.9 | 1086 |
| 2015 | 3.8 | 970 |
| 2016 | 4.0 | 622 |
| 2017 | 3.9 | 924 |
| 2018 | 3.9 | 1055 |
| 2019 | 3.9 | 585 |
| 2020 | 3.9 | 531 |
| 2021 | 3.9 | 821 |
| 2022 | 4.0 | 137 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Montes Alpha Merlot?
A full-bodied red from Montes in Chile's Colchagua Valley. 90% Merlot with 10% Carmenère (Cabernet Franc in recent vintages), aged 12 months in French oak, 14% alcohol. A smooth style where oak, vanilla and tobacco sit in front of plum and blackberry; Vivino 3.8 (2015, 970 ratings). One of the eight angel-labelled Montes Alpha wines.
How much does it cost?
Overseas retail is US$15–20. The eight Alpha wines all sit in much the same band, while the top Alpha M and Purple Angel cost several times as much.
What food does it go with?
Vivino suggests beef, lamb and veal. At tannin 2.0 and acidity 2.0 it is a soft wine that suits sweet-marinated Korean meat dishes — galbi-jjim (braised short ribs), bulgogi, yangnyeom galbi (marinated short ribs). One reviewer wrote 'great with meat and cheese, terrible with chocolate and sweet desserts'. Serve at 17–19°C; drinking window 2018–2028.
Why is Montes so famous in Korea?
It has been imported into Korea for 26 years, since the late 1990s; in 2019 it became the first single wine brand in Korea to pass 10 million cumulative bottles, and it reached 17 million by July 2025. By sales Korea is Montes' second-largest market after China and the largest per capita. Add appearances at the 2005 Busan APEC dinner and the 2019 Korea–Chile state banquet, plus the instantly recognisable angel label, and you get the saying 'you may not know wine, but you know Montes'.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Montes official — Montes Alpha Merlot 2021 technical sheet (vineyards, vinification, blend, oak)
- Korea Economic Daily — interview with Aurelio Montes Jr. (Korea second by sales, 17 million bottles)
- Le Monde Diplomatique Korea — Montes past, present and future (founding, angel label, 16 million bottles in Korea)
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