Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This Cabernet Sauvignon shows the fresh expression of red fruits mixed with mineral notes and graphite, resulting in a complex and diverse expression of its aromas. On its palate, it stands out for the great balance between its refined tannins and its freshness, as well as its good concentration. A dense wine, with a long persistence.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Fantastic aromas of blackcurrants and other dark fruit with crushed stone, iron and oysters, following through to a full body that shows incredible energy and depth, offering ripe yet fresh fruit, together with bright herbs and earth. Precision and balance of the intensity of the vintage. Layered. Perhaps the greatest Don Melchor ever made. Try after 2022.
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Tasting Panel
Created in 1987 by the Guilisasti family of Concha y Toro, Viña Don Melchor marks its 30th anniversary with this vintage; as of last year, the winery is independent. The statuesque, broad-shouldered red (98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc) offers up an impressive nose of tar, chocolate, and espresso. The body is ultra-plush, with notes of cedar and broad, generous strokes of violets, black olives, and black pepper. It’s a great example of sophistication and power.
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Wine Spectator
Suave, complex and elegant, with fine-grained tannins supporting the dried cherry, red plum and currant flavors. Cedar and forest floor notes show midpalate, leading to a long finish of cocoa powder and baker's chocolate details, accented by hints of apple wood smoke and white pepper. Drink now through 2032.
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Wine Enthusiast
A full, spicy nose is packed to the brim with smoky, toasty oak and earthy black-fruit aromas. A ripe, full and chewy palate is smooth in feel, while this classic Cabernet from Puente Alto in the Maipo Valley tastes of coffee, rich chocolate, toasty spices and blackberry. A lush, bold finish runs long, indicating that this will age well. Hold through 2040. Fetzer Vineyards.
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Wine & Spirits
Don Melchor, named for the founder of Concha y Toro, is based on a single parcel on a terrace above the north bank of the Maipo River. With this 2017, it’s now a stand-alone brand, led by winemaker Enrique Tirado and his team. The wine is a cool, black currant–scented classic from the Andean highlands, a powerful cabernet with quiet, Chilean restraint. The care of its farming shows in the detailed earthy tannins, which time in oak transformed into textural finesse. Top vintages from Puente Alto develop over the course of two decades or more, and this one should age beautifully.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Marking its 30th anniversary, the 2017 Don Melchor was produced 30 years after the initial 1987. This is a wine that transcends vintages and shows great regularity, always combining elegance and power, with subtle mintiness and superb elegance. It's juicy, textured and velvety. This is a superb showing in 2017, a warm year and a fresh wine. Bravo! And the volume is not small—156,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in December 2018. 94+
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Don Melchor, named after Concha Y Toro’s founder, is among Chile’s most-acclaimed wines and a Cabernet that belongs in every conversation about world-class interpretations of this singular varietal. Winemaker Enrique Tirado says of his vision for the wine, “Don Melchor’s style, complexity, and elegance are the extension of the perfect balance between the rocky soils in Puente Alto, the cold winds that slide down from the Andes Mountains, the generous climate of the Maipo Valley, the number of years the vines have taken to yield their best grapes, and the meticulous and caring work of the human hand.”
The signature wine from the exquisitely tended Puente Alto vineyard, Don Melchor celebrates its 30th vintage with the 2016 release. Set at the foot of the Andes Mountains on the northern banks of the Maipo River in the Upper Maipo Valley, 650 meters above sea level, the vineyard dates back to the mid-19th century, when the first pre-phylloxera French varieties were brought to Chile. Today, the vineyard consists of 127 hectares, divided into seven parcels, 90% of which are Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.1% are Cabernet Franc, 1.9% are Merlot, and 1% are Petit Verdot. Each parcel has been subdivided in order for very specific, detailed work that responds to the particular needs of each plant, row by row, to achieve the perfect balance with the weather characteristics of each year. Average vine age is over 30 years.
Every year, Winemaker Enrique Tirado travels to the small town of Lamarque, Bordeaux, France, to meet with renowned Bordeaux consultant Eric Boissenot, to taste approximately 150 lots from the vineyard and determine which lots, and in which proportions, will go into the new vintage of Don Melchor. Once the final blend has been defined, the new vintage of Don Melchor is transferred to French oak barrels from the Allier, Tronçois, and Nevers forests. Nearly two-thirds of the barrels are new, and the remaining third have had one prior use. After 14–15 months, the wine is bottled and aged for another year to develop the complexity and elegance that Don Melchor is known for.
A noble variety bestowed with both power and concentration, Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys success all over the globe, its best examples showing potential to age beautifully for decades. Cabernet Sauvignon flourishes in Bordeaux's Medoc where it is often blended with Merlot and smaller amounts of some combination of Cabernet Franc, Malbecand Petit Verdot. In the Napa Valley, ‘Cab’ is responsible for some of the world’s most prestigious, age-worthy and sought-after “cult” wines. Somm Secret—DNA profiling in 1997 revealed that Cabernet Sauvignon was born from a spontaneous crossing of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc in 17th century southwest France.
The Maipo Valley is Chile’s most famous wine region. Set in the country’s Central Valley, it is warm and quite dry, often necessitating the use of irrigation. Alluvial soils predominate but are supplemented with loam and clay.
The climate in Maipo is best-suited for ripe, full-bodied reds like Cabernet Sauvignon (the region’s most widely planted grape), Merlot, Syrah and Carmenère, a Bordeaux variety that has found a successful home in Chile.
White wines are also produced with great prosperity, especially near the cooler coast, include Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.