2020 Don Melchor
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2020 Don Melchor opens with a distinctly more red-fruited and candied bouquet than the other iterations served next to it, while retaining its classic Cabernet aromas of dried tobacco, cedar and mint. The palate is juicy and sweetly concentrated before transitioning to a comparatively stiff, introverted and drying finish that, after aeration, eventually is supported by a creamy, toasted-oak-derived texture. It is a fine wine, to be sure, but to me, it falls short of the more harmonious 2021 and 2022 harvests. It's 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc and 1% each Merlot and Petit Verdot.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,442 g. From Sam Cole-Johnson's tasting note: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, hand-harvested between 9 March and 6 April. Each block vinified separately in stainless steel. Nine-day fermentations at 25–26 °C (77–79 °F) with three pumpovers per day. Extended maceration for seven days at 23–25 °C (73–77 °F). 15 months in 71% new, 29% second-use French oak. pH 3.61. Shaded garnet colour. Very subtle, very mineral nose with ripe fruit and tamarind notes. Excellent combo of ripeness and acidity with real restraint and a strong mineral element on the finish. You can almost sense Enrique Tirado hovering over the barrels to ensure that the balance of ripe tannins with flavours, acid and alcohol is just comme il faut. (He trained in Bordeaux.) This is surely restrained Chilean red at its best. So appetising! When Sam tasted it in April she thought one should probably wait until 2026 before touching it but I have to say it's looking pretty gorgeous now, after another five months in bottle. (JR)
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor has a 6% dash of Cabernet Franc along with 1% splashes of Merlot and Petit Verdot from Puente Alto, Maipo, and was aged for 15 months in 71% new French barrels. Vivid garnet red in the glass. The aromatic profile features red fruit such as cherry and black currant along with hints of mint, spice and pepper over secondary aromas from the aging process, including a gentle whiff of cedar. Intense in the mouth, with juicy freshness and young tannins that will integrate better in time. The fruit was especially vivid this year, adding greatly to the nuance and subtle details. This will growth deeper in the bottle.
92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, hand-harvested between 9 March and 6 April. Each block vinified separately in stainless steel. Nine-day fermentations at 25–26 °C (77–79 °F) with three pumpovers per day. Extended maceration for seven days at 23–25 °C (73–77 °F). 15 months in 71% new, 29% second-use French oak. pH 3.61. Rich, dense, black fruit and volcanic rockiness on the nose. The palate is dense and structured. Firm, acid backbone, high tannin with a crushed-velvet quality, rich black cherry and cocoa with just a whisper of vanilla and spice hiding behind a sheer wall of fruit. Well balanced but would benefit from about four more years before touching it. (SCJ)