Enrique Tirado, Winemaker, Don Melchor
My recent Instagram Live chat with Enrique Tirado, winemaker for Don Melchor, reminded me that wine is one of the best ways to ponder the passage of time. Each vintage is a snapshot of that year. What was happening in the vineyard, the world, and even your own life? Drink and think!
I first experienced the charms of Don Melchor about five years ago when I shared a bottle of the 2014 vintage over dinner with some friends. It was love at first sip, and I have tasted every new vintage since then. And thanks to a retrospective tasting hosted by Enrique in New York City a few years ago, I've tasted almost every vintage of Don Melchor, including the debut 1987 vintage.
During our chat, we tasted the yet-to-be-released 2019 Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon ($120). One of Chile's most iconic wines, the second vintage of Don Melchor (1988), was the first Chilean wine to be named to Wine Spectator's Top 100, where it has placed nine times, including three placements in the Top 10.
In a world full of Cabernet Sauvignon, Don Melchor is something special. A terroir-driven wine, Don Melchor is crafted from grapes from the Puente Alto vineyard, in the Maipo Valley, at the foot of the Andes Mountains. The vineyard's 127 hectares are divided into seven plots that are partitioned into even smaller plots of 151 parcels. The 2019 vintage blends 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot from 150 parcels. For this reason, Enrique describes Don Melchor as not a single Cabernet Sauvignon but multiple expressions.
Enrique described this meticulous vineyard mapping, grape selection, and blending process in our chat. Each year, this precision in the vineyard and the cellar consistently yields a Don Melchor that is elegant, balanced, and a compelling snapshot of that specific vintage. What a beautiful way to document a year! Watch the video for Enrique's tasting notes and more details about the process for crafting Don Melchor.
