Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is holding on nicely with chocolate, walnut, mahogany and currant character. Full body, round and soft tannins and a delicious finish, turning to mushrooms and dried herbs. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
This muscular red packs a mélange of roasted plum, cassis and macerated wild berry on a full-bodied frame. There's plenty of fresh acidity and tannic structure, as the long finish unwinds with layers of maduro tobacco and humus, with a grace note of wild flowers.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
One of the great wines in the world, the Concha y Toro Don Melchor always ranks high in my book! Bold yet elegant, the 2009 clearly brings the varietal and its area to the fore. Bright red currant flavors run long and refined. This is a keeper. (Best Served: 2016-2027)
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Wine Enthusiast
This iconic Chilean Cabernet is firm on the nose, with cola, cassis, cherry and leather aromas. It's racy, juicy and powerful, with flavors of cassis, blackberry, plum, nutmeg and coffee that swim in harmony. This is big, but also elegant and clean. Cellar Selection.
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Wine & Spirits
The 2009 vintage will be remembered as a warm year in the Maipo, producing ripe, voluptuous reds. Among them, Don Melchor is one of the most successful cabernets of the vintage. It surrounds a robust texture with with sweet hints of cinnamon and clove, the warmth of the wine balancing the power of tannins. This is a cabernet to drink on cold winter nights, with cheese.
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.
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.