Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

  • 96 Wine
    Spectator
  • 94 Robert
    Parker
  • 93 Wine
    Enthusiast
  • 91 Wine &
    Spirits
4.5 Fantastic (6)
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Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2005  Front Bottle Shot
Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2005  Front Bottle Shot Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Front Label

Product Details


Varietal

Region

Producer

Vintage
2005

Size
750ML

Features
Collectible

Your Rating

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Somm Note

Winemaker Notes


#12 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2008

Don Melchor was hailed the best Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile by both the Wine Spectator and Robert Parker. Named after the founder of the winery, Don Melchor de Concha y Toro, the wine has become a symbol of the best the land and the winemaker's hand can produce in Chile.

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.

"Still very tight, but the tannins that lead the way now are sleek and refined and should easily meld into the huge core of roasted chestnut, black currant paste, warm fig and tar. Has a long, coffee- and loam-tinged finish. Best from 2009 through 2019." 96 Points,

Wine Spectator

"Inky purple hue. Heady, perfumed scents of maple, cinnamon and blackberry. Juicy, velvety berry fruit explodes on the palate with continued sweet maple flavorings. Tart on a spicy close with focused red and black fruit and silky tannin impressions." 95 Points

The Wine News

Professional Ratings

  • 96
  • 94
    The 2005 Don Melchor was cropped from an almost perfect year, when the grapes were picked between April 11 and May 19 in a slightly warmer year that provided powerful wines. The bottled wine was Cabernet Sauvignon with some 3% Cabernet Franc and had been matured in French oak barrels for 15 months, with 70% new barrels and the rest second use. Somehow this vintage had never been rated before, and I'm glad I did because it's a very good year, with average rain and not so high temperature, with a combination of power and finesse, notes of ash, earth, red and black fruit and a powerful palate. You see more the hand of a good winemaker here; there is very good balance, quality of tannins and freshness. This has balance, finesse and energy. It's evolving at a very slow pace, and it should continue aging forever in bottle.
  • 93
  • 91

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Don Melchor

Don Melchor

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Don Melchor, South America
Don Melchor Winery Video

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.

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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.

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Dramatic geographic and climatic changes from west to east make Chile an exciting frontier for wines of all styles. Chile’s entire western border is Pacific coastline, its center is composed of warm valleys and on its eastern border, are the soaring Andes Mountains.

Chile’s central valleys, sheltered by the costal ranges, and in some parts climbing the eastern slopes of the Andes, remain relatively warm and dry. The conditions are ideal for producing concentrated, full-bodied, aromatic reds rich in black and red fruits. The eponymous Aconcagua Valley—hot and dry—is home to intense red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.

The Maipo, Rapel, Curicó and Maule Valleys specialize in Cabernet and Bordeaux Blends as well as Carmenère, Chile’s unofficial signature grape.

Chilly breezes from the Antarctic Humboldt Current allow the coastal regions of Casablanca Valley and San Antonio Valley to focus on the cool climate loving varieties, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Chile’s Coquimbo region in the far north, containing the Elqui and Limari Valleys, historically focused solely on Pisco production. But here the minimal rainfall, intense sunlight and chilly ocean breezes allow success with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The up-and-coming southern regions of Bio Bio and Itata in the south make excellent Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Spanish settlers, Juan Jufre and Diego Garcia de Cáceres, most likely brought Vitis vinifera (Europe’s wine producing vine species) to the Central Valley of Chile sometime in the 1550s. One fun fact about Chile is that its natural geographical borders have allowed it to avoid phylloxera and as a result, vines are often planted on their own rootstock rather than grafted.

DDE94585_2005 Item# 94585

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