How Chilean Wine Caught The Collector’s Eye

For 200 years, the Chileans made wine primarily for soldiers and priests. As recently as the 1980s, only ten wineries existed in the country of Chile, making wine that was — at best — OK. Then, Aurelio Montes decided to make wine — and everything changed. He was dead-set on creating high-quality, super-premium wines, despite naysayers and critics. Aurelio’s vision resulted not only in the formation of his eponymous winery making world-class wines, but also in sparking a winemaking revolution in Chile. Today, there are hundreds of wineries in the country, making good, great, and outstanding wines — many of which are highly sought by wine collectors and sold at auction.