The origin of Don Melchor
In 1883, Don Melchor Concha y Toro imported his first vinifera vines from the Bordeaux, France and planted them at the foot of the Andes Mountains in Pirque, 27 kilometers from Santiago, at the same time that he built the emblematic Casona de Pirque, winery, and aging cellar. And so begins the story of Don Melchor, the wine.
A hundred years later, Eduardo Guilisasti, then the president of Viña Concha y Toro, urged his son Rafael and their winemaker Goetz Von Gersdorff to travel Bordeaux to visit the renowned French master, Emile Peynaud, and present him with the Cabernet Sauvignons from the Puente Alto Vineyard planted on the northern back of the Maipo River, 4 kilometers from the traditional Casona in Pirque. Peynaud immediately detected the excellence of the wines and suggested that the renowned Bordeaux consultant Jacques Boissenot take charge of the project, which took shape under the name of the winery’s founder, Don Melchor. The first vintage of this wine was 1987.
The vineyard and parcels
The vineyard is located in the D.O. Puente Alto, one of Chile’s most renowned origins and the most prestigious for the production of World Class Cabernet Sauvignon. The unique personality of Don Melchor is the reflection of the excellence and dedication that goes into making it. The enological and agricultural team has learned how to interpret the purest essence and elegance of the Puente Alto terroir that determines the character and style of Don Melchor.
As the result of extensive research, the 127-hectare Don Melchor Vineyard has been divided into seven parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon and small parcels of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and 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.
Blending and aging Don Melchor
A new vintage of Don Melchor begins with the definition of the proportions of the lots of Cabernet SAuvignon from the different parcels in the vineyard that will go into the final blend. No parcel may make up more than 60-70% of the total. In some years, a small percentages of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot are added for greater complexity and elegance in the final blend.
Every year, the winemaker Enrique Tirado travels to the small town of Lamarque, Bordeaux, France, to meet with Eric Boissenot, the son of the renowned Bordeaux consultant Jacques 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 Troncois, and Never 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 bottles and aged for another year to develop the complexity and elegance that Don Melchor is known for.
The man behind Don Melchor
Winemaker Enrique Tirado has had a long and distinguished career at Viña Concha y Toro. He began in 1993 and was placed in charge of the company’s premium wines, and in 1997 he assumed the position of managing director for Don Melchor.
Between 2000 and 2002, his extraordinary enological sensitivity led him to conduct the first soil and terroir study in Chile, focused on the Don Melchor Vineyard in conjunction with the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (INA P-G), one of France’s most prestigious academic entities.
In 2011, he set off on a year-long adventure in France. He enrolled in the University of Bordeaux ISVV and completed an overarching diploma to get a deep understanding of the viticulture and winemaking of the Cabernet Sauvignon.
His constant dedication to studying the soils, climate, agricultural management, and the implementation of new vinification technologies, along with his extraordinary sensitivity have enabled him to achieve in Don Melchor the best expression and elegance of Cabernet Sauvignon in Puente Alto.
Viña Don Melchor, a subsidiary of Viña Concha y Toro, was honored with its iconic wine, Don Melchor 2021, achieving the #1 place on Wine Spectator’s prestigious Top 100 Wines of 2024 list.
Santiago, Chile, November 20, 2024 – The Chilean wine industry has achieved a significant milestone with Don Melchor 2021 being named #1 in Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2024 list. This iconic Cabernet Sauvignon is produced by one of Viña Cocha y Toro’s subsidiaries, Viña Don Melchor.
Wine Spectator, the world’s leading wine authority, evaluated nearly 10,500 wines from across the globe this year, with its editorial team selecting the most exciting wines for their annual Top 100 list. Top 100 wines are chosen on the basis of quality, value, availability and “X-factor,” meaning the story behind the wine.
In its official release announcing its Top 10 Wines of 2024, Wine Spectator states that Don Melchor has positioned itself as a benchmark of excellence, both in Chile and the global wine industry. Its 2021 vintage, which received 96 points, was celebrated:
“Chilean wine has been setting new standards in recent years. Don Melchor’s meticulous approach across three-plus decades has cemented its legacy as a benchmark for the country and made Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Vineyard one of Chile’s most sought-after Cabs. It now is honored as Wine Spectator´s 2024 Wine of the Year.”
Read more about Don Melchor here
Don Melchor is distributed in Europe by VCT Europe
In Denmark and Finland, contact us:
Ilkka Perttu
+358 505431259
iperttu@vcteurope.com
Joonas Heikkilä
+358 458902520
jheikkila@vcteurope.com
