“New World Producer of the Year.” – Sommelier Wine Awards 2024

Collectors take notice - This checks all boxes. A whopping 96 POINTS and a long history of glowing press, super talented winemaker, and just tasting like a total, complete stunner from front to back and side to side. And our world’s best price - OVER 55% OFF - will not be seen again, maybe EVER.

Not your ordinary Malbec, this is powered by 125+-year-old vines, raised in 70% new French Oak, and assembled by the master himself, Aurelio Montes. It’s straight-up sultry stuff. Aurelio has a long history of making some incredible, high-scoring, age-worthy “Wine of the Night” type gems and this is no exception. Deep violet in the glass, it boasts Big Gulp sized servings of jammy blueberry and blackberry, black licorice, violets, sweet pipe tobacco, vanilla, and spicy white pepper. Brisk acidity keeps things moving along and makes it a food-friendly wine (chimichurri steak anyone?). DEEP, lush, and expressive, it commands your attention from the first sip.

Montes is the sister winery behind Kaiken, a South American beacon since the 1980s, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate acknowledging “a well-earned reputation as one of Chile’s foremost vignerons.”

Wine Spectator adds “In winemaking, Montes aims for an easy-drinking and approachable style, without harsh tannins. And he is an unabashed Francophile. ‘We were trained in university to love Bordeaux,’ he says. ‘If you want to sum up my approach in one word, it is elegance.’ Still, Montes doesn’t shy away from more concentrated fruit flavors. ‘I like Napa, with its ripe and massive wines. You can drink them from the beginning with pleasure.’”

James Suckling raves on: “Founded by Chilean wine maestro Aurelio Montes in 2002, Kaiken is known for its big, juicy Malbecs… Interestingly, Kaiken is named after a wild goose that flies between southern Argentina and Chile because Montes used to fly across the Andes frequently. As an expert winemaker and founding partner of Viña Montes in Chile, Montes and his team in Argentina have been persistent with their close supervision over the low-yielding vineyards in Mendoza. Coupled with the region’s unique terroirs, Kaiken has been consistently making excellent, fruit-forward wines that maintain their freshness and drinkability.”

There is a catch: Not much of this one to go around, so if you’re reading this move quickly.

Now that’s a SUNDAY, FUNDAY!

96 Points – James Suckling “An opulent and big red here, but at the same time this is fresh and really well-balanced. Graphite, oyster shells, cocoa powder, dark olives and blackberries. Bold and concentrated on the palate with lots of dense, fine-grained tannins. Very ambitious but really balanced. Big, powerful and hedonistic. Drink from 2025.”

95 Points – Descorchados “Mai, whose first vintage was the 2007, comes from a selection from an old, seven-hectare vineyard next to the Kaiken winery in Vistalba. Those very old vines are among the few remaining in a zone devastated by urban sprawl. Its barrel aging has changed over the years, and now tends toward large format 500- to 600-liter barrels. The extraction has also become more restrained, with no bleeding carried out since 2018, for example. This new vintage is from a warm year, and that warmth seems to accentuate the friendly side of this malbec, a delicious example of a red from this traditional Mendoza zone, which tends to give rise to generously sweet and succulent wines.”

94 Points – Tim Atkin MW “Mai is the flagship red from Kaiken, made with grapes from an ungrafted, 112-year-old parcel in Vistalba. Way less oaky than it used to be, this has considerable depth and structure, damson and blueberry fruit, sinewy tannins and a fresh, well-balanced finish.”