[Akyung Wine Cellar] Chile’s “Great Legacy”: A New Benchmark for the “Drops of God”

For the Excellence of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon
The Beauty of Puente Alto Terroir: "Don Melchor"
Seven Unique Mosaics: "The Parcels"

Editor's NoteNo two wines are ever the same under the sky. Even when grapes are grown on the same land and vinified and aged in the same way each year, the results are always different. Wine is a 'drink of serendipity,' born from the harmony of humans and nature. Every wine, which leaves behind only a single vivid memory before quietly fading away, carries its own fascinating story. 'Akyung Wine Cellar' brings you the unique stories of wines, each shaped and matured under different circumstances.

"Don Melchor has firmly established itself as the benchmark for Chilean wine, thanks to its meticulous approach." Aaron Romano, Editor-in-Chief of Wine Spectator

'Vina Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Alto Puente Alto Vineyard 2021,' ranked number one among the top 100 wines by the wine specialty media Wine Spectator in 2024

Wine Spectator, regarded as the world’s premier wine publication, selects its Top 100 Wines every year. The Top 100 Wines are chosen based on quality, value, availability, and the so-called 'X-factor'-the story behind the wine. To determine the best wine of the year, which draws the attention of wine lovers worldwide at the end of each year, Wine Spectator reviewed about 15,000 wines last year, and ultimately awarded the highest honor of Wine of the Year to 'Vina Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Alto Puente Alto Vineyard 2021.' Editor Romano noted that over more than 30 years, Don Melchor has become a great legacy of Chilean wine, boasting outstanding quality and consistency.

It comes as no surprise that Don Melchor claimed the top spot among more than 10,000 excellent wines. Having released 35 vintages to date, Don Melchor has already been featured in the Top 100 Wines ten times, and has ranked in the Top 10 four times. By consistently producing high-quality wines each year, Don Melchor has built trust and prestige, and by being named Wine of the Year last year, it once again proved its exceptional quality, capturing the attention and praise of both the industry and wine lovers, and solidifying its status as the most acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile.

'Don Melcho (Vina Don Melchoer)' Cabernet Sauvignon [Photo source=Don Melcho official website]

For the Excellence of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

The story of Don Melchor dates back to the 19th century. Don Melchor de Santiago-Concha y Toro, a Chilean businessman and politician, built a French-style summer villa for his family in 1875 in Pirque, Maipo Valley, near the capital Santiago. In 1883, he even brought grapevines from Bordeaux, France, and began producing wine, marking the start of the Vina Concha y Toro winery.

The winery began as Don Melchor’s personal project. However, after his death in 1892, the wine business grew explosively throughout the 20th century, and Concha y Toro became the largest wine group in Chile and South America. Today, Concha y Toro owns brands such as Casillero del Diablo, Marques de Casa Concha, and Vina Cono Sur, exporting to more than 130 countries.

Don Melchor de Santiago-Concha y Toro is a French-style summer villa built in 1875 in Pirque, near the capital Santiago. [Photo by Don Melchor Official Website]

A century after Don Melchor planted his vines, in 1984-when high-quality Chilean wines were still relatively unknown-renowned French oenologist Emile Peynaud tasted Cabernet Sauvignon from the Puente Alto region of Maipo Valley and immediately recognized the area’s exceptional terroir. He suggested to his close friend, wine consultant Jacque Boissenot, that they embark on a new premium wine project with Concha y Toro, aiming to showcase the excellence and elegance of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1987, the first vintage of Don Melchor was born from this collaboration.

Concha y Toro then focused on elevating the quality of this wine named after its founder, combining relentless research, thorough studies of diverse terroirs, and outstanding winemaking techniques. Over the years, Don Melchor established itself as the flagship wine of Concha y Toro. In 2019, Don Melchor became an independent winery, Vina Don Melchor, with Enrique Tirado as CEO and Chief Winemaker.

A vineyard view of "Vina Don Melchor" located in Puente Alto, Chile. [Photo courtesy of Vina Don Melchor official website]

The Beauty of Puente Alto’s Terroir: Don Melchor

"With every vintage, Don Melchor focuses on capturing the beautiful balance offered by the terroir of Puente Alto." (Enrique Tirado, CEO and Chief Winemaker of Don Melchor)

Vina Don Melchor is rooted in Puente Alto, a sub-region of Maipo Valley south of Santiago, Chile’s capital. The vineyards of Puente Alto, spread at the foothills of the Andes Mountains, are strongly influenced by the mountains. The cool air descending from the Andes creates relatively chilly mornings, which, in harmony with the warm afternoons, help intensify the grapes’ concentration. The soil is well-drained alluvial soil containing gravel, clay, sand, and silt deposits. While this type of soil is not ideal for maximizing yields, it is excellent for concentrating the flavors of the grapes.

A vineyard view of "Vina Don Melchor" located in Puente Alto, Chile. [Photo by Vina Don Melchor official website]

Don Melchor produces only one wine that bears the winery’s name. While Cabernet Sauvignon makes up the majority of the blend, small amounts of other varieties are included to achieve higher completeness and balance. Currently, Don Melchor manages 125 hectares (about 380,000 pyeong) of vineyards in Puente Alto. Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for 93% of the plantings, with Cabernet Franc at 5%, and Merlot and Petit Verdot each at 1%.

In the Puente Alto vineyards, where grapes have been cultivated for over a century, Don Melchor aims to harmoniously blend the unique flavors, aromas, and emotions that emerge from each plot into a single bottle of wine. To achieve this, Don Melchor divides its Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards into seven main parcels, which are further subdivided into 151 micro-parcels for meticulous management. Grapes grown in different terroirs are vinified and blended differently each year according to their characteristics, and it is through this detailed management that Chile’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon is created.

'Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2022'

After the glory of its 2021 vintage, Don Melchor recently unveiled its latest vintage. 'Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2022' is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. It is fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged for 15 months in French oak (72% new oak, 28% reused oak). With an alcohol content of 15%, it is considered to have aging potential of over 40 years. Don Melchor 2022 is a wine with intense expressiveness, opening with red fruit and floral notes, followed by aromas of blackcurrant and blackberry. On the palate, it starts softly and quickly fills the mouth with rich flavors. This luxurious wine, with outstanding energy and a broad flavor profile, offers a long finish with delicate texture and excellent balance.

The Seven Unique Mosaics: The Parcels

For nearly 40 years, Don Melchor adhered to a 'One Wine' policy, but has recently introduced a new project called 'The Parcels.' Don Melchor divides its Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards into seven parcels based on soil and microclimate, vinifying each parcel separately after harvest. The final Don Melchor wine is a blend of these seven distinct wines, with the blend varying each year.

The Parcels is a series that captures the purity of each parcel’s wine-something not fully experienced in the blended Don Melchor. During his recent visit to Korea for the launch of The Parcels series, CEO Tirado explained, "Every section of the Don Melchor vineyard has its own unique character, forming a mosaic of originality. That’s why we divide the vineyard into several parcels and manage each vine, row, and soil type independently."

Enrique Tirado, CEO and Chief Winemaker of Don Melcho, who recently visited Korea, is introducing 'DM/01'.

Because each parcel has a distinct identity, it cannot be managed uniformly, and the wines produced from each parcel have their own unique character, making them worth experiencing individually. This concept inspired the launch of The Parcels series. Above all, experiencing these distinctly individual wines is enjoyable in itself and deepens one’s understanding of the final Don Melchor blend. Each year, the series spotlights a single parcel, presenting a new wine that captures the purity and most authentic expression of that parcel.

Don Melchor introduced 'DM/01' as the first wine in The Parcels series. The 2022 vintage of DM/01 is made from grapes from Parcel #1 of the Don Melchor vineyard, the oldest section of the estate. This parcel was planted with pre-phylloxera vines brought from France to Chile at the end of the 19th century, and to this day, 3,000 original vines remain on their own roots. The combination of soil, climate, and historical background makes this a monumental parcel that expresses the essence of Don Melchor, connecting the past, present, and future.

Vineyards of Don Melcho divided into seven main sections.
[Photo by Don Melcho Official Website]

Wines from Parcel #1 are characterized by intense red fruit aromas, floral notes, and a fresh, vibrant expressiveness. They possess remarkable elegance and softness, with extremely delicate and harmonious tannins that provide a long and pleasant finish on the palate. For a long time, grapes from Parcel #1 have played a key role in the final Don Melchor blend, contributing intense fruit flavors and exceptional finesse. In the 2022 vintage, they were again used in a precise proportion for the final blend, and thanks to the climatic conditions of 2022, their distinctive character and expressiveness were even more pronounced, resulting in DM/01, the first vintage of The Parcels series.

DM/01 is a wine that reinterprets the legacy of Don Melchor with a unique and modern identity. The purity of the soil in Parcel #1, managed using environmentally friendly and ecological methods, is fully expressed. The blend consists of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc, aged for 15 months in French oak barrels. CEO Tirado described it as "having intense aromas of red fruit and flowers, with a fresh and lively character. It stands out for its elegance, softness, and delicate tannins, offering a long and enjoyable finish."

Don Melcho's first parcel series 'DM/01'