Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
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Winemaker Notes
The Puente Alto Vineyard in the Maipo Valley has the perfect combination of climate and soils for producing world-class wine: the climate is ideal and predictable, and the soil is poor and gravelly to reduce yields and increase concentration naturally. After fermentation, the wine is matured in the finest French oak barriques for 14 months, followed by another year in the bottle before release.
Ripe fleshy fruit and berries lead off this highly aromatic wine. Later, the tobacco and chocolate come through and marry with the vanilla. Agreeable, mature tannins elegantly convey the best expression of the Puente Alto vines. The pleasant, long finish displays great harmony and balance.
The result is a rich, full-bodied wine with unmistakable character in the bouquet and on the finish. Drink with any hearty dish, lamb, steak, and strong cheeses.
Professional Ratings
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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Wine Spectator
Shows alluring coffee bean, currant paste and fig aromas and flavors, with ample loamy tannins and a ripe, muscular finish where cocoa and tar notes hang on for added effect. Accessible now, but will improve with cellaring.
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Wine Enthusiast
In recent years, with winemaker Enrique Tirado firmly at the helm, Don Melchor has gotten better and better. And while 2004 was an average year in Chile, this ranks as the best Melchor we’ve sampled. The wine has beautiful blackberry, cola and pepper aromas in front of cassis, cherry, plum, nutmeg and cinnamon flavors. It’s brawny but balanced, with excellent natural acidity.
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Wine & Spirits
From El Tocornal, on the north bank of the Maipo river, this latest release of Don Melchor is still too young to completely reveal its character. Menthol and black cherry aromas dominate the wine. The palate, severe and tight, speaks of strength and musculature rather than Melchor's usual gentleness.
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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.