Other
Aurelio Montes
Chief Winemaker
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
At Montes Wines, Chilean winemaking is framed around balance, structure, and restraint, with Chief Winemaker Aurelio Montes working in a register shaped by Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon. The cellar language is patient rather than showy: timing, proportion, and decisions that accumulate across vintages. Born in Santiago, Chile, Montes became associated with a broader push for Chilean wine quality and international competitiveness, while keeping the work grounded in grapes, cellar practice, and the material conditions of production. “It was a dream of what I wanted to do, and I knew how to do it.” Aurelio has said.
The Path
Formal wine training at Catholic University (1971) gave Aurelio Montes a technical base for a career defined by cellar discipline and repeatable judgment. The education did not end with the school credential; it continued through fermentation monitoring, timing decisions, and the practical reading of wines across successive vintages. Cellar work at Undurraga, where Aurelio Montes also held head winemaking responsibilities, placed the craft in production conditions rather than theory. The same was true at Viña San Pedro, where he worked in the cellars, built head winemaking experience, and remained until 1988. Those roles matter because they locate the reputation in the daily sequence of fruit arrival, extraction, development, and the cumulative weight of decisions made over time. Ownership changed the scale of the work in 1988, when Aurelio Montes became co-owner and head winemaker at Viña Montes in Chile. The role joined cellar authority to longer-term responsibility for house direction. Today, he is founder of Viña Montes (since 1988) and overseer of Kaiken, with a career line that runs from cellar work into ownership and cross-border wine leadership.
The Work Today
Chilean wine made for clarity, quality, and comparison beyond its home market is central to the present work of Aurelio Montes as founder of Viña Montes and Chief Winemaker at Montes Wines. Carménère and Cabernet Sauvignon remain the key varieties named in that practice, linking vineyard identity to a measured house style built around structure and balance. Winery design is also treated as part of the production environment at Montes Winery, where Feng Shui principles of balance and harmony are expressed through water, metal, wood, and stone elements. In trade terms, the point is not decoration but coherence: the physical setting is made to speak the same language of proportion that the wines aim to carry in the glass. Cross-border winemaking extends the work through Kaiken in Mendoza, Argentina, which Aurelio Montes oversees. The arc remains consistent: training and cellar work in Chile, the founding of Viña Montes in 1988, and a broader South American frame that continues to emphasize balance and quality.
Signature
Signature in this context is attached to named wines as much as to varieties: Purple Angel, Montes Alpha M, and Alpha M are associated with Aurelio Montes. Around those labels, the craft focus remains high-quality Cabernet Sauvignon, with attention to polish, structure, and the wider ambition attached to Chilean wine.
Acclaim
Recognition here is best understood through positioning: the work of Aurelio Montes helped place Chilean wines more firmly in international competition. The acknowledged field is not limited to one label; it spans high-quality Chilean wine, Carménère, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The career sequence is compact and specific: Catholic University in 1971, cellar work and head winemaking at Undurraga, cellar work and head winemaking at Viña San Pedro until 1988, the founding of Viña Montes that same year, and current oversight of Kaiken in Mendoza, Argentina. It is a cellar-first progression that moved into ownership, winery design, and cross-border oversight while staying tied to fruit, structure, material setting, patience, and balance.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Aurelio
What is Aurelio Montes's current role?
Aurelio Montes is Chief Winemaker.
Where did Aurelio Montes train or study?
Aurelio Montes trained at Catholic University.
What is Aurelio Montes known for?
Carménère.
