Puerto Rico, aka “Phelps Island,” passionate

about JPV wines

By Mike McEvoy
Director of Sales and Marketing

JPV’s relationship with Carlos Montalvo, President of Fine Wine Imports in Puerto Rico, dates back to 1991, when Carlos was a harvest intern at Phelps. Carlos and his company now assist our Puerto Rican importer, V. Suarez & Co., with distribution of Phelps wines on the island. As a result of this collaboration, Phelps wines can be found on wine lists of the finest restaurants and hotels and in the cellars of many of the most prominent collectors in Puerto Rico.

Carlos Montalvo, president of Fine Wine Imports in Puerto Rico (L) & Mike McEvoy of JPV (R)	In late February I had the opportunity to work with Carlos for a few days in San Juan. Among the highlights on day one was a trade and media luncheon at Augusto’s Restaurant, attended by a dozen local wine writers and restaurateurs. Chef Ariel Rodriguez created a four course menu paired with eight Phelps wines, including Insignia and Backus from the 2004 vintage. For good measure, Carlos and Phelps collector Victor Alvarez added magnums of Insignia and Backus from 1995.
Later that evening, Carlos and I hosted a sold-out wine dinner at Pikayo, located in the beautiful Puerto Rican Museum of Art. Chef Wilo Benet, the featured chef at a Phelps Preferred dinner at JPV in October 2005, prepared a five course tasting menu paired with seven Phelps wines highlighted by two vintages of Insignia, 1998 and 2004. Ninety customers delighted in the wines, Wilo’s artistic cuisine, and the modern art ambience of Pikayo.		Mike & Fernando Arteaga of Fine Wine Imports.

The following evening, a group of Puerto Rico’s largest collectors gathered at Carlos’ home for an Insignia vertical tasting. The vertical spanned the last eleven vintages of Insignia, from 1994 through 2004. The wines, graciously provided by Carlos and other collectors, were tasted and discussed in three flights while Carlos cooked his paella – a red wine-friendlier version of the traditional Spanish seafood and rice dish, substituting various cuts of beef and pork for fish and shellfish. Two of the collectors augmented the vertical with 1978 and 1981 vintages of Insignia from their personal cellars. Both wines, while fully mature, were still lively and structured.

I was deeply impressed by the warm reception I received in San Juan, and the passion the community of Puerto Rican wine lovers holds for JPV and its wines. Should your travel plans include Puerto Rico, you should have no trouble finding JPV wines on what one V. Suarez representative called “Phelps Island.”