That there are two wines in a single shipment from Chile’s Colchagua Valley should give you an idea about how I feel about this region. Ever since Pioneering Chilean Winemaker Aurelio Montés set up shop high in the mountains here, the region has been producing one good wine after the next.

Initiated in 1997, MontGras’ Ninquén Project was born of an appreciation for the unique properties of the specific terroir on Ninquén Mountain in Chile’s Colchagua Valley, and an ambition to forge a name for MontGras in the elite ultra-premium category. 222 acres atop Ninquén were dedicated to the venture and planted with a range of red grape varieties. With this move, MontGras became Chile’s first winery to plant atop the plateau of a mountain (Ninquén means “plateau on a mountain” in ancient local dialect).

Paul Hobbs, a leading California winemaker with an international reputation for developing world-class South American wines, works closely with owner Hernán Gras and winemaker Santiago Margozzini to craft the limited production Antu wines from the Ninquén Mountain Estate vineyard. The range takes its name from the word for “sun” in the language of the ancient Mapuche people who once inhabited this part of Chile.

A blend of 88% Syrah and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon for structure, this is one of those great wines that risks being forgotten because Syrah isn’t a well known grape from Chile. This wine is aged for 18 months in new French oak barrels, and is bursting with wild blackberry, pepper, grilled meat, smoke and baking spice . . . a real showstopper. Try it with barbecue ribs, chicken mole, or a hamburger. Drink now – 2016