Don Melchor 2021 (750ml)
Product price
$199.99
Description
Don Melchor's 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Puente Alto in Chile's Maipo Valley is built on a foundation of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, rounded out with Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The wine aged 15 months in French oak, the majority in new barrels, before release.
The 2021 shows a composed, classically structured bouquet that suggests rather than shouts: blackcurrant and blackberry with undertones of cedar, pencil shavings, and dried leaves, layered with hints of black tea and plum. On the palate, there's a sleek, refined quality to the texture, with rounded tannins that feel elegant rather than aggressive. The initial bright fruit gives way to deeper cedar and graphite flavors, framed by soft chocolate-tinged tannins and a long, persistent finish. Freshness runs through the wine, keeping the fruit flavors distinct even as the layers unfold slowly. This is a wine built for patience, revealing itself gradually as it opens in the glass.
Product Details
| Category | Wine |
| Color | Red |
| Country | Chile |
| Region | Maipo Valley |
| Subregion | Puente Alto |
| Varietal | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Producer | Don Melchor |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Size | 750 ML |
| Subtype | Still |
Expert Reviews
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.
The 2021 Don Melchor is, to my palate, the most classic and timeless iteration presented in this vertical. It opens with a well-balanced, composed and textbook bouquet of cigar box, fresh herbs, blackberries and pencil shavings. On the palate, it is sumptuous yet elegant, combining a sleek, refined texture with the soft, gentle richness that is characteristic of this blend. It concludes with a graphite-driven, chiseled finish framed by chocolate-tinged tannins and lasting persistence. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 3% Merlot that spent 15 months in 68% new barrels, the rest second-use.
Combining older vines (planted 1979) with new vines from their acclaimed Puente Alto vineyard, this Cabernet Sauvignon blend with a touch of Cabernet Franc and Merlot shows great balance and persistence in this stellar vintage. Long and fine, the nose is redolent of red bramble fruit, forest floor, cedar, exotic spice and a touch of mint.