Don Melchor started life as 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and is now a (very heavily) Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend. The wine is produced from a single vineyard located at 650 metres above sea level in Puente Alto, part of the Alto Maipo Valley famed for its Cabernet Sauvignon that grows on free-draining, poor, loamy gravel soils. The original vineyard was planted between 1979 and 1992 and covered 75 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon and just a few of Cabernet Franc. A new vineyard was added in 2004 with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot – current plantings total 127 hectares.

At the helm of Viña Don Melchor since 1997 is winemaker Enrique Tirado, an astute, thoughtful and driven individual whose meticulous approach in the vineyard and cellar is eye-openingly impressive. Under Tirado, the vineyard has been subdivided into 151 plots following extensive soil analysis and research. This sees Tirado make an annual pilgrimage to Bordeaux where he meets with renowned consultant winemaker Eric Boissenot. The two finalise the blend from the 151 plots and the wines are aged in French oak once the blend is finalised.

Tirado’s stated aim has always been to capture the complexity, finesse and essence of this impressive vineyard, with its free draining rocky soils, Andean breeze and warm Maipo climate. He highlighted to me the expression of red fruits that he sees come from these vines, as well as an energy and delicacy.

Four years ago, I undertook a mini-vertical of Don Melchor and this 2025 tasting included three of the same vintages: 2001, 2010 and 2014. The 2001 and 2014 scored the same in both tastings. Interestingly, the 2001 seemed slightly more youthful this time, yet still in the same powerful, ripe and sleek style. I was hugely impressed by the 2010 on the recent showing, and it was by some distance the finest wine of this tasting, scoring 97 versus 95 points in the previous tasting. The 2014 was very similar and had not aged much over the past few years, seemingly stuck on a slightly tightly coiled plateau for the moment.

I did see an element of red fruit coming through in some of the wines but the most common thread throughout was a real savouriness that was evident in most of the wines, especially the 2001. Recent vintages showed an attractive meaty, graphite, gravel, cigar box and earthy character, which also fits within the savoury spectrum of flavours. There is a plump, sweet cassis character in some of the recent wines too but it is very well balanced with the underlying spice that they possess. The 2022 is impressive and shows superb balance yet needs some time to show itself; these are clearly extremely age-worthy wines.

The recent vintages of Don Melchor are clearly true to the Puente Alto terroir from which they come, and they possess a natural richness and a power, yet they are balanced and elegant wines. With the exception of the 2022 (which on this showing was introverted and slightly backwards), my recent experience of younger releases of Don Melchor suggests that they are wines that can be enjoyed in their youth, yet still possess superb potential ageability.

This is also true of the two neighbouring icon wines from Puente Alto, Chadwick and Almaviva, of which I have tasted multiple vintages and verticals recently. When considering these three wines, undoubtedly three of Chile’s finest Cabernet-based wines, Almaviva has one specific difference in that a percentage of the wine is Carmenere sourced from Peumo in Colchagua. It is therefore not a single vineyard wine, whereas Don Melchor and Chadwick are, and I think this does show through in the wine, with an extra layer of richness and plushness often identifiable in Almaviva. Nevertheless, Don Melchor stands as an impressive wine that shows great stylistic consistency. It certainly speaks of its place but with a noticeable French, Bordelais accent.