Don Melchor 2021

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€209.05

VAT included

Don Melchor 2021

Don Melchor 2021 Voted Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator 2024

Vinification process

Fermentation takes place in small stainless steel tanks. Special care is taken with the temperature and the reassembly of each tank. After fermentation, the skins and seeds are pressed to preserve the maximum quality of the tannins.

Exhaustive selection of batches to make Don Melchor. Only 60 to 65 per cent of the grapes harvested are used. After fermentation, it is transferred to French oak barrels from the forests of Allier, Tronçais and Nevers. Around two thirds of the barrels are new and the remaining third have been used before. After a period of 12 to 15 months, the wine is bottled and continues its ageing stage for a further year.

Producer's tasting notes

‘Deep violet in colour, its aroma is very intense in its expression with a great aromatic complexity of red fruits, small wild berries, accompanied by floral notes of violets. On the palate, it's a full-bodied wine, deep from start to finish, with a soft attack and then showing great energy and breadth. The finish is long and grows in expression. The elegance of the textures dominates the whole mouth, showing a harmony, depth and elegance that provide great highlights.’

Winemaker: Enrique Tirado

Wine Type: Red Wine
Format: 0,75L
Vintage: 2021
Castes: Cabernet Sauvignon
Country: Chile
The most awarded: Wine Spectator TOP #1
The highest scoring: James Suckling 97 to 99 Points
James Suckling: 99

The 2021 Don Melchor is dark garnet red in the glass. The restrained nose offers pure fruity notes such as blackcurrant with hints of leaves and black tea, refined woody aromas, and gentle touches of plum and red bell pepper. In the mouth, it’s intense with mild juiciness and rounded tannins. The taut palate gradually grows more profound as it develops cedar flavors at the back of the throat before the long, rewarding finish. A wine that is more suggestive than explicit as it slowly envelops you in its different layers. The added freshness brings out the clarity of the fruity flavors.

Graphite grey, cassis, iron, blackberries and a hint of cigar box and chocolate. Lots of violets too. Rich and intense, with a full-bodied palate. It has density and very fine but structured tannins. Long, intense finish with lots of flavours. 93% cabernet sauvignon, 4% cabernet franc and 3% merlot. One of the best of recent years. It can be drunk now, but it will evolve and keep very well over the next 20 years. (02/2023)

A remarkable effort that channels the finesse of the vintage with rich, muscular edges, offering a base of graphite and cassis notes that gather around elegant layers of dried rosemary and white pepper. The richly textured core of raspberry and plum flavors show precision and just enough acidity to keep things sailing onto the finish around well-integrated tannins and touches of cocoa. Best from 2026 through 2040. 5,000 cases imported.—Aaron Romano

Just pouring it provides a waft of superlative ripe, characterful and certainly not overblown fruit. This is a glorious mix of fully ripe Cabernet obviously so comfortable in its home in Chile's prime Cabernet country just outside Santiago. There is that stony mineral character so special to this vineyard in abundance but the fruit overwhelms it and there is beautiful lift on the palate. Winemaker Enrique Tirado and consultant oenologist Eric Boissenot must be so thrilled with this very special vintage. It's already lovely but on the basis of that 2019 vertical tasting, I would expect it to have a very long life. The velvety tannins are still there in abundance. Chile can be very proud of this wine.