Bottle bought in Guatemala more than ten years ago and opened fourteen hours before New Year’s lunch. Cork in a pristine condition. About thirteen years old, bottled in November 2010, and still maintains a dark core like the gates of hell with some watery ruby-colored edges. On the nose, Cassis notes predominate, plus blackcurrants and cedar, lots of plank. Already in the mouth what it offers can be found in hundreds of labels from Vancouver to Valdivia, namely good structure, dry glyceric texture, acidity that clings to the throat. Tannic finish still to be solved. Dry aftertaste result of that feeling of newly serrated plank. Fortunately the alcoholic volume of 14.7% does not bother. Like an ordinary supertuscan. The truth is that I have always considered Concha y Toro a winery of wines well elaborated but without soul and this without forgetting the funny story they tell of Casillero del Diablo. With this bottle things have not changed. New World class urgently needs a forceful dish of food. Napa cabs lovers, here’s where to start. Too many points and fame for what it really is. I’m sorry. HNY! The wise men, like sediments, are coming, starting with Melchor, from the sands, but they’re waiting for me in Paris.
Botella comprada en Guatemala hace más de diez años y abierta catorce horas antes del almuerzo de Año Nuevo. Corcho en una condición prístina. Sobre trece años, embotellado en noviembre del 2010, y todavía mantiene un núcleo oscuro como las puertas del infierno con acuosos bordes color rubí. En nariz predominan las notas a Cassis, grosellas negras y madera, mucha madera. Monótono y también un poco monolítico. Ya en boca lo que ofrece puede ser encontrado en centenares de etiquetas desde Vancouver hasta Valdivia, a saber, buena estructura, seca textura glicérica, acidez que se agarra a la garganta. Final tánico todavía pendiente de resolver. Seco retrogusto resultado de esa sensación de tablón recientemente serrado. Afortunadamente el volumen alcohólico de 14.7% no molesta. Como un súper toscano vulgar. La verdad es que siempre he considerado a Concha y Toro una bodega de vinos bien elaborados pero sin alma y ello sin olvidarnos de la divertida historia que cuentan de Casillero del Diablo. Con esta botella las cosas no han cambiado. Clase del Nuevo Mundo que necesita con urgencia un plato contundente de comida. Amantes de los cabs de Napa, aquí tenéis por donde empezar. Demasiados puntos y fama para lo que realmente es. Lo siento. ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Ya vienen los reyes magos, empezando por Melchor, por los arenales pero justo antes me esperan en París.
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This is a well developed but still well alive Cab with nose of beef blood, plums, prunes, smoky oak, spices, rose hip, eucalyptus, raisins. Great structure with refreshing acidity, filigree tannic spine, salty sweet moderate finish. A really excellent , mature red.
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Nose of Creme de Cassis, and cedar. Remarkably fresh with juicy dark cherry and black plums. Succulent finish with cherry juice, and cocoa. Integeated tannins.
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So fresh i had to scratch my eyes.. 2009? This bottle could have gone a decade more, easy. Classic new world bdx blend. Very interesting combination of fruit and depth - and rather different to my previous bottle (as I recall). Drink or hold.
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Decanted om the moderate sediment and allowed to breathe. The color is still saturated and dark ruby/garnet in color. Aromas of moderate intensity show aromas of cassis, blackberry and dark cherry that come in tow with notes of mountain herbs and mint, tobacco, cigar box and cedar with notes of medium-roast coffee, cocoa, iron, forest floor, leather and hints of dried florals. The palate is polished and shows good concentration and full textures across the mid-palate. The tannins, still full, are smooth and well-integrated. Acidity is structured and balanced with the tannin, fruit and alcohol. Flavors are in a sweet spot showing herbs and tobacco with leather, pencil and iron notes around the core of fruit that reveals, dark cherry, cassis and blackberry. Hints of spice, cocoa, coffee and menthol. The finish is smooth and long.
This wine is drinking in its prime right now and still has plenty of life left in it. Reminiscent of a left bank Bordeaux
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Guilty pleasure galore, with plenty of blackcurrant and dark chocolate. Close to being a little too much, but ends up on the decadent end of "just right". Has aged well, without showing any very obvious signs of maturity. Lots of years left in this
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Had at my club last Friday. Tasted and poured a little past its peak. Dark Fruit, Chocolate, some Tannins but soft. It's an OK bottle of wine. Not worth the money. Had a second bottle and it had corked. Still to have a really good bottle of Don Melchor.
Nose of black fruits, spices, creme. Tasted ripe plums, hawthorns, violets, kirsch, with eucalyptus and sweet spices on the finish. Full bodied and new world in style, on the jammy side. Rather heavy and slightly tannic. This has legs to run for many more years.
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Deep dark reddish purple in appearance with an opulent yet intense nose of rich dark fruits, peppery spice (perhaps from the alcohol) with a hint of menthol. The palate is quite rich, big, powerful, medium full-bodied, mouth coating, with a good bit of fine grain tannin despite it being 10 years of age and a heavy dose of alcoholic heat which is quite apparent during the tasting as well as its lingering effects afterwards. The flavors components of this iconic Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon includes rich layers of dark fruits such as ripe blackberries, blueberries, black cherries, black plum, with underlying notes of bitter herbs, forest undergrowth, semi-sweet dark chocolate, cooked meat, worn leather, a touch of well integrated oak and crush granite especially towards the moderate finish. A wonderfully expressive Don Melchor that paired exceptionally well with a rack of lamb with garlic and rosemary.
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BYOB "High Altitude wines" - blind tasting (Sollentuna): Dense, bitter chocolate and some blueberry jam. Bitter. Has acidity and all components just not my cup of tea. Guessed Malbec or cabernet from Catena or as second guess a Chateau Montus.
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BYOB "High Altitude" (Sollentuna, Sweden): Meat broth, reindeer skin, birch bark, slender, warm tires, dark chocolate. Nice acidity that helps it get balanced due to its dense, thick fruit. Long aftertaste.
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deep ruby, med+ intense aromas of: vegetal, dried herbs, leather, eucalyptus, ripe black berry, ripe and dred bkackcherries. fully developed dry, med acidity, high tannins, high alcohol, med+ body, med+ intense flavors of ripe blackberries, ripe black cherries, dried black vanilla, cloves, cedae, mushrooms, forst floor, eucalyptus. med finish drink now, not suitable for further aging
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Cassis, blackberry, cigar box, dark chocolate, tobacco. Medium-full body. Medium-plus acidity & tannins. Medium -long finish. Maybe not at peak yet, but near enough.
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'Bordeaux' blend 2009 blind tasting (Ch Lagrange, Bin389, Don Melchior, Ca’Marcanda, Magari, Promis). Dark fruit, tobacco, vanilla - a powerfull wine in every way. Well-made and for many a top 3 wine in the tasting. To me it seems rather clumsy and heavy. My score was 88-89, but I'll give it an extra point for being a 'crowd pleaser'.
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One of my favorite wines. This continues to deliver. Dark in the glass, reasonable nose of dark fruits. Chewy on the palate, with a lingering finish. Paired well with chocolates.
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Dark ruby red, with skinny legs. Dense, unctuous and powerful; syrupy and fleshy; complex and balanced. Tobacco leaf, fresh cedar, pink peppercorns, blackberry compote, cloves and cassis bouquet. Palate: cinnamon, forest berries, mochachino, roasted plum, black currant, paprika. Chocolate tannins and delicate acidity, with a medium juicy finish.
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96% C.S. & 4% C.F., hand picked 4/14 – 5/19/09 from the alluvial soils of the Don Melchor Vyd; Aged 15 mos in FR oak barrels. (71% new, 29% 2nd use); 14.7% ABV, 3.75 g/L T.A., & 3.5 pH;
N: Slightly closed; Iron, EARTHINESS, with pyrazines coming on? Poss some licorice?
P: LM body; NICE frt met by an astringent pucker which stays within hailing distance of the init frt as it SLOWLY, fairly seamlessly morphs into a quite LONG, very, VERY slightly tangy finish with a PLEASANT bitterswtness to its very fine tannins. In its window of drinkability, this should EASILY make its 15th, the consensus of others being its 20th. A *very* FASCINATING tasting experience! :) 18 & 17/20 Jancis Robinson, + 4 scores on wine-searcher's Tasting Notes pg.. [As of late Mar '20, wine-searcher still shows 4 sources @ $80-$100].
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Hint of peppermint, menthol or camphor on the nose along with dark cherries and plum. Boisenberry, hint of chocolate, cigar tobacco wet slate stone, a nice leathery taste. Beautiful finish. Drinking fantastic right now.
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New world, ripe dark fruits. Dark cherry, boysenberry, blackberry. A little bit of stone and earth. Tastes young and is very alive. Very good Chilean wine. I tasted at the winery in 2013 and they didn't serve this maybe because we didn't look rich enough but I wish they had. I may have bought some. A buy at 50 as I found it at home.
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Decanted for 1h. Should have decanted longer. It improved a lot in the glass during another hour. It is great now and should improve during the next years.
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deep deep red, with primary notes such as overripe boisenberry, and cherries, baked plum and bell pepper being overwhelmed by secondary notes like cigar box, tobacco, crayons and dark chocolate. Heavy toast here, lacking balance. Definitely new world, tannic, sweet and mature in mouth, body is medium+, with medium- acidity and a long, warm finish.
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Drank with fscov (my bottle). This wine has been bought directly at the winery, and kept in my cellar since 2012 - so it had no problems with its storage.
I decanted it for 5+ hours, but in retrospect I don't think it is necessary - it almost didn't change during this time, its evolution being negligible. There was no argument at the table that this wine's strongest asset is its absolutely lovely nose - it's an explosion of red and black fruit, with plenty of cassis (one person noticed some bell pepper too, but I did not). There is some oak, but it is not excessive.
In the mouth it is definitely not as good - it lacks complexity and its tannins are a bit astringent, something you'd expect to be better managed in a $100+ wine. Maybe I should have waited a little more before consuming it, but I fear that, five years from now, the little fruit it has will be gone. It's long and drinkable enough to merit a 92pts grade, but it has an horrible QPR - its Terrunyo Cab Sauv sibling is as good as this Don Melchor for half the price.
This wine is an easy pass in the future - I will not buy it again.
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Winewankers BYO; 3/25/2017-3/26/2017 (Jan Roger): Very dark. Blackish red. Powerful and complex nose with mint, cassis, leather, tobacco and crayons. Palate follows up and most prominent is the spice and blackcurrant. Carrying some signs of youth, and have some niggles in the finale.
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The wine is characterized by a deep garnet red with a nose showing tones of black fruit (blackberry, plum, blueberry) with tons of secondary and tertiary notes (tobacco, paprika, mint, smoke). Chewy tannins, balanced out nicely with the acidity and alcohol. Just enough New World intensity and just enough Old World backbone.
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Blind tasted and had no idea where it came from but I enjoyed this thoroughly. Black. Dark and brooding nose with a hint of alcohol. Cooked, burnt notes on the palate, no doubt from the heavy oak toast, yet there is great acidity present along with a touch of alcohol. Dark forest berries and sous bois underline the Cabernet presence. Certainly the best wine I have tasted from Chile!
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Blind tasting. Dark hue nose of praline, caramel. Mouth sweat, slow tannins little acidity but with opulent red jamy fruit core. Lacks structure or noblesse. To grosse seduction for me. Not the cabernet that I like. A duty free wine.
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Red purple colour, very dark Earthy nose, pencil shavings, something of the Medoc about this, plus a hint of menthol Refreshing, good acidity, firm powdery tannins, ripe but very present Dark fruit,dark chocolate, even a little bitter chocolate, long earthy finish Big concentrated wine that's quite hard work at the moment. Keep
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An old world style of winemaking dominates this wine from the dark, opaque garnet color, the restrained nose of deep dark berries, and the weight on the palate. While this is a fine wine, and a top notch Chilean one, it disappoints. It is rather one dimensional on the palate though a omnipresent earthy flavor compliments the dark berries, it is overwhelmed by the tannic nature without complimenting acids which mask the potential Dry and dusty like a struggling fourth growth Margaux, I think it is a poor QPR despite its accomplishments. After all, a struggling fourth growth Margaux is still a fourth growth Margaux.
Maybe the tannins will lose their grip and reveal a terrific acid free complexity lurking beneath. While I am not betting on it, I have two more bottles to age in anticipation.
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Midnight purple with violet at the edges. Spicy and slightly dusty intense raspberries on the nose. Intense Asian spice notes with similarly intense and delicious red cherry notes, black soil, and some wood. Really delicious, if not exactly in my preferred flavor profile. Will probably be better integrated better in a few years.
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Slow ox for two hours. Coffee. Olive. Blackcurrant. Wet cedar and oak.
Not really "my style" overall. Was short on fruit, which isn't always a bad thing, but the earthy tones of this just didn't hit me in the right place. Plenty of grip. Finish was long and a bit hot.
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Off the list at a restaurant in Dorado, PR. Pop and pour and drank half of it, brought it back to the hotel and had more over a 2-1/2 hours total. An outstanding wine. Surprisingly approachable. Smooth soft sweet tannins. Lots of red fruit with plums and berries and some sweet cherries. Some acidity and some coffee in the background with above average acidity. Add five more years and this will get even better and ZI think more fruit will emerge.
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Deep ruby red color and opaque through the core. Color stained legs fall slowly showing high concentration and medium-plus/high viscosity. After a couple hours of air time medium-plus aromas present on the savory side with plenty of earth and "funk", pungent dried herbs, tobacco, aged red meats, weathered cedar, leather and cocoa that meet with aroma of plum, currant, blackberry and dried flowers. The full bodied palate follows suit with savory, concentrated flavors of earth and portabello, maduro tobacco, cedar, dried herbs, dried flowers, cocoa and an iron/beef blood note that adds complexity. Fruit flavors come in secondary with black plum, currant, black cherry and black berry. The medium acidity is slightly edged out by the medium-plus dusty tannins that are well integrated. The wine has full texture with full mid-palate density and for me where this wine shines. The savory finish is medium-plus in length and intensity.
Overall more reminiscent of Old World than new, and everything in its place. Needs the air time.
A matter of taste - Singapore (Singapore): More herbal notes than the Almaviva, this has clearly more Cab Sauvignon. Like this better than the 2008 recently, as it does not seem overripe and over the top
The wine showed savoury and meaty notes with dark fruits. A very distinctive and balanced wine. Tannins were big and slightly coarse. Finish was moderately long. Better value than the Almaviva. Quite characterful. Young and can do better with ageing.
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A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (96%) and Cabernet Franc (4%). Aged for 15 months in French barriques (76% new, 24% once used).
Dery dense, concentrated and fully opaque dark ruby red color. It seems like the color has lost a bit of its purple hue with age. The nose is not as expressive as it was a year ago, but still very bold and concentrated with aromas of savory blackcurrants, dark-toned ripe berries, some developed pruney notes, a little bit of chocolatey oak and green Cab hints of mint and eucalyptus. The wine comes across as pretty savory, but also ridiculously full-bodied, opulent and extracted on the palate with powerful flavors of ripe blackcurrants, sweet dark plums, brambly blackberries, cherry marmalade, milk chocolate oak, some exotic spices, a little bit of meaty character, light notes of vanilla, a hint of cocoa and a touch of minty herbal character. Overall there is some structure to the wine with its medium-to-moderate acidity and moderate tannins, albeit both of these feel inadequate for a wine this big. Especially the tannins feel quite ripe and resolved, not offering that much grip and structure as I'd hope they would. The finish is ripe, heavy and chewy with bold, concentrated and long flavors of bittersweet dark chocolate, ripe plummy fruits, some vanilla, a little bit of sweet toasty wood, a hint of jammy dark berries and a touch of licorice. The high alcohol makes the aftertaste feel rather hot.
This is a massively big and concentrated new world Cab with ridiculous amounts of extraction and a thick coating of sweet new oak - and rather modest structure to offer barely enough backbone for a piece with the density of a black hole. There's a lot of everything, that's for granted, yet still the wine is impressive only because of its sheer size - not because of its depth or complexity or elegance, because it feels like it doesn't have any of these characteristics. I still have high suspicions whether the wine will age gracefully - for now the only thing that seemed to have changed over the year, was this subtle touch of dried, pruney fruit in the nose. Otherwise the wine was as clumsy as ever with no signs of oak integration whatsoever. I remain as perfectly unimpressed as ever. Feels overpriced at 59,90€.
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Raspberries, blackcurrant and some nettles on the nose, palate adds some cedar to it. Mouthfeel is youthful with somewhat harsh tannins and acidity.
91p now but should probably rest a bunch of years. Surprisingly well-balanced even now, though. Longish decantation is recommended if you intend to drink soon.
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Wine club tasting. Needs a few years-bought for cellaring. Long finish. Deep purple in color, with plum and cassis on palate. Should be great in 3 to 5 years.
Opaque, inky purple appearance. Very sweet and concentrated nose with rich, opulent aromas of very ripe plums, blackcurrant jam, some alcohol, a little bit of floral perfume and a hint of boysenberry juice concentrate. The wine feels very full-bodied, concentrated and extracted on the palate with really chewy texture and taste that feels surprisingly dry in comparison to the sweet nose. There are very intense and succulent flavors of ripe dark berries, dark plums, rich and aromatic oak spice, toasted wood, some milk chocolate, a little bit of peppermint and a hint of vanilla. Many people commented how structured and tightly-knit the wine was, but I found the wine only medium in acidity with ample, yet very ripe and soft tannins that contribute a lot more to the chewy texture and hints of bitterness than to the grip and astringency - which, in my opinion, are elements a wine this big and concentrated would need more. Now the wine feels very big, monolithic even, but lacking balance and structure, coming across as just too heavy and clumsy. The finish is long, juicy and slightly sweet with flavors of ripe dark plums, blackcurrant jam and very prominent oak characteristics of sweet, toasted wood, vanilla, milk chocolate and peppery spice, that seem to carry on forever.
A textbook example of an overdone modern Cabernet. Swathes of ripe fruit here with new oak characteristics to match the massive fruit, but very little emphasis on structure or balance. Many people commented on the depth and complexity of the fruit, but I thought it was very hard to distinguish the nuances of fruit underneath the massive oak treatment - perhaps people confuse the complexity of fruit with the complexity of oak? Because oak is what this wine doesn't lack. All in all, this is a big wine for sure, with massive concentration and lots of ripeness, but with so soft structure I doubt the wine will age gracefully. More likely the wine does the thing most Chilean super wines do: it keeps for years in a cellar unchanged, until it starts to "develop", meaning it just falls apart in a relatively short time. I'd really want to taste a nicely developed Chilean super red, because I've yet to taste a wine that would've gone "up" from their youth - most of them just seem to stay pretty much the same for some time and then they just go "down", never going "up". At 57,90€ this wine feels really overpriced - there are a lot of better and more balanced wines out there for the half of the price.
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Tasted this wine at Concha Y Toro Wine Tasting Event @ Crystal Wines.
Deep red colour gave away the young age of the wine. It has a elegant nose and tobacco and cigar notes. The entry in the palate is nice, smooth and silky. Has a bitter after taste.
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Concha Y Toro wine tasting (Crystal Wines): Dark garnet and almost opaque, expressve nose of rich cassis fruits with subtle vegetal and smoky notes. Soft entry but good intensity, still plenty of primary fruits, blackcurrant and smoky notes. Medium+ bodied with good structure and acidity backbone. Ripe and fine tannins with long finish.
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1/1/2024 - Harley1199 wrote:
Bottle bought in Guatemala more than ten years ago and opened fourteen hours before New Year’s lunch. Cork in a pristine condition. About thirteen years old, bottled in November 2010, and still maintains a dark core like the gates of hell with some watery ruby-colored edges. On the nose, Cassis notes predominate, plus blackcurrants and cedar, lots of plank. Already in the mouth what it offers can be found in hundreds of labels from Vancouver to Valdivia, namely good structure, dry glyceric texture, acidity that clings to the throat. Tannic finish still to be solved. Dry aftertaste result of that feeling of newly serrated plank. Fortunately the alcoholic volume of 14.7% does not bother. Like an ordinary supertuscan.
The truth is that I have always considered Concha y Toro a winery of wines well elaborated but without soul and this without forgetting the funny story they tell of Casillero del Diablo. With this bottle things have not changed. New World class urgently needs a forceful dish of food. Napa cabs lovers, here’s where to start. Too many points and fame for what it really is. I’m sorry. HNY!
The wise men, like sediments, are coming, starting with Melchor, from the sands, but they’re waiting for me in Paris.
Botella comprada en Guatemala hace más de diez años y abierta catorce horas antes del almuerzo de Año Nuevo. Corcho en una condición prístina. Sobre trece años, embotellado en noviembre del 2010, y todavía mantiene un núcleo oscuro como las puertas del infierno con acuosos bordes color rubí. En nariz predominan las notas a Cassis, grosellas negras y madera, mucha madera. Monótono y también un poco monolítico. Ya en boca lo que ofrece puede ser encontrado en centenares de etiquetas desde Vancouver hasta Valdivia, a saber, buena estructura, seca textura glicérica, acidez que se agarra a la garganta. Final tánico todavía pendiente de resolver. Seco retrogusto resultado de esa sensación de tablón recientemente serrado. Afortunadamente el volumen alcohólico de 14.7% no molesta. Como un súper toscano vulgar.
La verdad es que siempre he considerado a Concha y Toro una bodega de vinos bien elaborados pero sin alma y ello sin olvidarnos de la divertida historia que cuentan de Casillero del Diablo. Con esta botella las cosas no han cambiado. Clase del Nuevo Mundo que necesita con urgencia un plato contundente de comida. Amantes de los cabs de Napa, aquí tenéis por donde empezar. Demasiados puntos y fama para lo que realmente es. Lo siento. ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
Ya vienen los reyes magos, empezando por Melchor, por los arenales pero justo antes me esperan en París.
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10/27/2023 - johnnyo Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very good!
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9/21/2023 - IvanLi Likes this wine: 95 Points
This is a well developed but still well alive Cab with nose of beef blood, plums, prunes, smoky oak, spices, rose hip, eucalyptus, raisins.
Great structure with refreshing acidity, filigree tannic spine, salty sweet moderate finish.
A really excellent , mature red.
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6/16/2023 - OldHick95 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Nose of Creme de Cassis, and cedar. Remarkably fresh with juicy dark cherry and black plums. Succulent finish with cherry juice, and cocoa. Integeated tannins.
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1/6/2022 - Martin_G wrote: 92 Points
So fresh i had to scratch my eyes.. 2009? This bottle could have gone a decade more, easy. Classic new world bdx blend. Very interesting combination of fruit and depth - and rather different to my previous bottle (as I recall). Drink or hold.
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12/29/2021 - bjamesclark wrote: 93 Points
Decanted om the moderate sediment and allowed to breathe.
The color is still saturated and dark ruby/garnet in color.
Aromas of moderate intensity show aromas of cassis, blackberry and dark cherry that come in tow with notes of mountain herbs and mint, tobacco, cigar box and cedar with notes of medium-roast coffee, cocoa, iron, forest floor, leather and hints of dried florals.
The palate is polished and shows good concentration and full textures across the mid-palate. The tannins, still full, are smooth and well-integrated. Acidity is structured and balanced with the tannin, fruit and alcohol. Flavors are in a sweet spot showing herbs and tobacco with leather, pencil and iron notes around the core of fruit that reveals, dark cherry, cassis and blackberry. Hints of spice, cocoa, coffee and menthol. The finish is smooth and long.
This wine is drinking in its prime right now and still has plenty of life left in it. Reminiscent of a left bank Bordeaux
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12/25/2021 - Jreese wrote: 92 Points
Just past prime
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1/9/2021 - Gece Likes this wine:
Guilty pleasure galore, with plenty of blackcurrant and dark chocolate. Close to being a little too much, but ends up on the decadent end of "just right". Has aged well, without showing any very obvious signs of maturity. Lots of years left in this
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12/27/2020 - Al-r Likes this wine: 91 Points
good wine, but my item is too old, passed its best time to drink
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11/6/2020 - The Wine Geek Likes this wine: 90 Points
Had at my club last Friday. Tasted and poured a little past its peak. Dark Fruit, Chocolate, some Tannins but soft. It's an OK bottle of wine. Not worth the money. Had a second bottle and it had corked. Still to have a really good bottle of Don Melchor.
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10/19/2020 - Lemmy-W Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pleasant surprise from new world. Went nicely with wagyu steak. smooth tannins and enjoyable nose.
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12/23/2019 - Martin_G wrote: 91 Points
Really nice new world cab. In prime window now, definately. Unsure where it will go from here....
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12/7/2019 - dnnk88 wrote: 92 Points
Nose of black fruits, spices, creme. Tasted ripe plums, hawthorns, violets, kirsch, with eucalyptus and sweet spices on the finish. Full bodied and new world in style, on the jammy side. Rather heavy and slightly tannic. This has legs to run for many more years.
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4/23/2019 - Praxis wrote: 93 Points
Deep dark reddish purple in appearance with an opulent yet intense nose of rich dark fruits, peppery spice (perhaps from the alcohol) with a hint of menthol. The palate is quite rich, big, powerful, medium full-bodied, mouth coating, with a good bit of fine grain tannin despite it being 10 years of age and a heavy dose of alcoholic heat which is quite apparent during the tasting as well as its lingering effects afterwards. The flavors components of this iconic Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon includes rich layers of dark fruits such as ripe blackberries, blueberries, black cherries, black plum, with underlying notes of bitter herbs, forest undergrowth, semi-sweet dark chocolate, cooked meat, worn leather, a touch of well integrated oak and crush granite especially towards the moderate finish. A wonderfully expressive Don Melchor that paired exceptionally well with a rack of lamb with garlic and rosemary.
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1/26/2019 - Omar Khayyam wrote:
BYOB "High Altitude wines" - blind tasting (Sollentuna): Dense, bitter chocolate and some blueberry jam. Bitter. Has acidity and all components just not my cup of tea. Guessed Malbec or cabernet from Catena or as second guess a Chateau Montus.
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1/25/2019 - thunberg wrote: 90 Points
BYOB "High Altitude" (Sollentuna, Sweden): Meat broth, reindeer skin, birch bark, slender, warm tires, dark chocolate. Nice acidity that helps it get balanced due to its dense, thick fruit. Long aftertaste.
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1/23/2019 - sshayfin wrote: 89 Points
deep ruby,
med+ intense aromas of: vegetal, dried herbs, leather, eucalyptus, ripe black berry, ripe and dred bkackcherries. fully developed
dry, med acidity, high tannins, high alcohol, med+ body, med+ intense flavors of ripe blackberries, ripe black cherries, dried black vanilla, cloves, cedae, mushrooms, forst floor, eucalyptus. med finish
drink now, not suitable for further aging
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10/27/2018 - EFrohmader Likes this wine: 93 Points
1 hour decant. Cassis, blackberry, spice, pencil lead, dried herbs (thyme/bay leaf?), toasty oak. Medium-full body. Medium acidity. Quite fragrant. Long-minus finish. Went well with steak. Probably won’t improve further, but no rush either.
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9/22/2018 - EFrohmader Likes this wine: 93 Points
Cassis, blackberry, cigar box, dark chocolate, tobacco. Medium-full body. Medium-plus acidity & tannins. Medium -long finish. Maybe not at peak yet, but near enough.
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4/22/2018 - casoe wrote: 90 Points
'Bordeaux' blend 2009 blind tasting (Ch Lagrange, Bin389, Don Melchior, Ca’Marcanda, Magari, Promis). Dark fruit, tobacco, vanilla - a powerfull wine in every way. Well-made and for many a top 3 wine in the tasting. To me it seems rather clumsy and heavy. My score was 88-89, but I'll give it an extra point for being a 'crowd pleaser'.
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3/8/2018 - gew71walsh wrote: 93 Points
One of my favorite wines. This continues to deliver. Dark in the glass, reasonable nose of dark fruits. Chewy on the palate, with a lingering finish. Paired well with chocolates.
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2/20/2018 - Epicúreo Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark ruby red, with skinny legs.
Dense, unctuous and powerful; syrupy and fleshy; complex and balanced.
Tobacco leaf, fresh cedar, pink peppercorns, blackberry compote, cloves and cassis bouquet.
Palate: cinnamon, forest berries, mochachino, roasted plum, black currant, paprika.
Chocolate tannins and delicate acidity, with a medium juicy finish.
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12/30/2017 - srh Likes this wine:
4 Shared Reds (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): Dave, I'm QUITE grateful that you chose to share this MAGNIFICENT wine! :)
96% C.S. & 4% C.F., hand picked 4/14 – 5/19/09 from the alluvial soils of the Don Melchor Vyd; Aged 15 mos in FR oak barrels. (71% new, 29% 2nd use); 14.7% ABV, 3.75 g/L T.A., & 3.5 pH;
N: Slightly closed; Iron, EARTHINESS, with pyrazines coming on? Poss some licorice?
P: LM body; NICE frt met by an astringent pucker which stays within hailing distance of the init frt as it SLOWLY, fairly seamlessly morphs into a quite LONG, very, VERY slightly tangy finish with a PLEASANT bitterswtness to its very fine tannins. In its window of drinkability, this should EASILY make its 15th, the consensus of others being its 20th. A *very* FASCINATING tasting experience! :) 18 & 17/20 Jancis Robinson, + 4 scores on wine-searcher's Tasting Notes pg.. [As of late Mar '20, wine-searcher still shows 4 sources @ $80-$100].
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12/15/2017 - Zach Lane Likes this wine: 91 Points
Hint of peppermint, menthol or camphor on the nose along with dark cherries and plum. Boisenberry, hint of chocolate, cigar tobacco wet slate stone, a nice leathery taste. Beautiful finish. Drinking fantastic right now.
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10/7/2017 - heldermramos@gmail.com Likes this wine: 94 Points
Com uma maior tosta que o Almaviva, menor intensidade no atoma mas não perde em complexidade. Cabernet presente nos velos taninos. Vinho para meditar.
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9/20/2017 - jeffreylubowski Likes this wine: 92 Points
New world, ripe dark fruits. Dark cherry, boysenberry, blackberry. A little bit of stone and earth. Tastes young and is very alive. Very good Chilean wine. I tasted at the winery in 2013 and they didn't serve this maybe because we didn't look rich enough but I wish they had. I may have bought some. A buy at 50 as I found it at home.
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9/6/2017 - jeduardoms Likes this wine: 94 Points
Decanted for 1h. Should have decanted longer. It improved a lot in the glass during another hour.
It is great now and should improve during the next years.
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8/13/2017 - rcvx wrote: 91 Points
deep deep red, with primary notes such as overripe boisenberry, and cherries, baked plum and bell pepper being overwhelmed by secondary notes like cigar box, tobacco, crayons and dark chocolate. Heavy toast here, lacking balance. Definitely new world, tannic, sweet and mature in mouth, body is medium+, with medium- acidity and a long, warm finish.
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7/2/2017 - br_winelover wrote: 92 Points
Drank with fscov (my bottle). This wine has been bought directly at the winery, and kept in my cellar since 2012 - so it had no problems with its storage.
I decanted it for 5+ hours, but in retrospect I don't think it is necessary - it almost didn't change during this time, its evolution being negligible. There was no argument at the table that this wine's strongest asset is its absolutely lovely nose - it's an explosion of red and black fruit, with plenty of cassis (one person noticed some bell pepper too, but I did not). There is some oak, but it is not excessive.
In the mouth it is definitely not as good - it lacks complexity and its tannins are a bit astringent, something you'd expect to be better managed in a $100+ wine. Maybe I should have waited a little more before consuming it, but I fear that, five years from now, the little fruit it has will be gone. It's long and drinkable enough to merit a 92pts grade, but it has an horrible QPR - its Terrunyo Cab Sauv sibling is as good as this Don Melchor for half the price.
This wine is an easy pass in the future - I will not buy it again.
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3/25/2017 - Torchy Likes this wine: 91 Points
Winewankers BYO; 3/25/2017-3/26/2017 (Jan Roger): Very dark. Blackish red. Powerful and complex nose with mint, cassis, leather, tobacco and crayons. Palate follows up and most prominent is the spice and blackcurrant. Carrying some signs of youth, and have some niggles in the finale.
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11/29/2016 - grapenomad wrote: 91 Points
The wine is characterized by a deep garnet red with a nose showing tones of black fruit (blackberry, plum, blueberry) with tons of secondary and tertiary notes (tobacco, paprika, mint, smoke). Chewy tannins, balanced out nicely with the acidity and alcohol. Just enough New World intensity and just enough Old World backbone.
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11/22/2016 - Capt Cutlass Likes this wine: 91 Points
Blind tasted and had no idea where it came from but I enjoyed this thoroughly. Black. Dark and brooding nose with a hint of alcohol. Cooked, burnt notes on the palate, no doubt from the heavy oak toast, yet there is great acidity present along with a touch of alcohol. Dark forest berries and sous bois underline the Cabernet presence. Certainly the best wine I have tasted from Chile!
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11/21/2016 - dead puddle wrote: 85 Points
Blind tasting. Dark hue nose of praline, caramel. Mouth sweat, slow tannins little acidity but with opulent red jamy fruit core. Lacks structure or noblesse. To grosse seduction for me. Not the cabernet that I like. A duty free wine.
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11/16/2016 - henrygjeffreys Likes this wine:
Red purple colour, very dark
Earthy nose, pencil shavings, something of the Medoc about this, plus a hint of menthol
Refreshing, good acidity, firm powdery tannins, ripe but very present
Dark fruit,dark chocolate, even a little bitter chocolate, long earthy finish
Big concentrated wine that's quite hard work at the moment. Keep
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8/1/2016 - MarkWhite Likes this wine: 91 Points
An old world style of winemaking dominates this wine from the dark, opaque garnet color, the restrained nose of deep dark berries, and the weight on the palate. While this is a fine wine, and a top notch Chilean one, it disappoints. It is rather one dimensional on the palate though a omnipresent earthy flavor compliments the dark berries, it is overwhelmed by the tannic nature without complimenting acids which mask the potential Dry and dusty like a struggling fourth growth Margaux, I think it is a poor QPR despite its accomplishments. After all, a struggling fourth growth Margaux is still a fourth growth Margaux.
Maybe the tannins will lose their grip and reveal a terrific acid free complexity lurking beneath. While I am not betting on it, I have two more bottles to age in anticipation.
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6/8/2016 - acristiani Likes this wine: 94 Points
Powerful and complex nose, black currants, earthy and oaky.
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4/15/2016 - Zweder wrote: 91 Points
Occasional tasting group (By TBa @ WN Top South America plus some extra's.): Beautiful and elegant bouquet with red and dark forest fruits and vanilla. On the palate a lot of sweet spices, good acidity and soft tannin.
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3/3/2016 - TexasBob Likes this wine: 91 Points
Midnight purple with violet at the edges. Spicy and slightly dusty intense raspberries on the nose. Intense Asian spice notes with similarly intense and delicious red cherry notes, black soil, and some wood. Really delicious, if not exactly in my preferred flavor profile. Will probably be better integrated better in a few years.
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3/1/2016 - vincemcd61 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very nice wine wish we bought more. Had with pasta puttanesca
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6/20/2015 - ageverett wrote: 88 Points
Slow ox for two hours. Coffee. Olive. Blackcurrant. Wet cedar and oak.
Not really "my style" overall. Was short on fruit, which isn't always a bad thing, but the earthy tones of this just didn't hit me in the right place. Plenty of grip. Finish was long and a bit hot.
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6/5/2015 - jskuek Likes this wine: 93 Points
Coffee vanilla, noticeable acid at the finishing. Should be perfect 3-5 years later.
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5/10/2015 - Jay Hack wrote: 91 Points
Off the list at a restaurant in Dorado, PR. Pop and pour and drank half of it, brought it back to the hotel and had more over a 2-1/2 hours total. An outstanding wine. Surprisingly approachable. Smooth soft sweet tannins. Lots of red fruit with plums and berries and some sweet cherries. Some acidity and some coffee in the background with above average acidity. Add five more years and this will get even better and ZI think more fruit will emerge.
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1/18/2015 - bjamesclark wrote: 91 Points
Deep ruby red color and opaque through the core. Color stained legs fall slowly showing high concentration and medium-plus/high viscosity.
After a couple hours of air time medium-plus aromas present on the savory side with plenty of earth and "funk", pungent dried herbs, tobacco, aged red meats, weathered cedar, leather and cocoa that meet with aroma of plum, currant, blackberry and dried flowers.
The full bodied palate follows suit with savory, concentrated flavors of earth and portabello, maduro tobacco, cedar, dried herbs, dried flowers, cocoa and an iron/beef blood note that adds complexity. Fruit flavors come in secondary with black plum, currant, black cherry and black berry. The medium acidity is slightly edged out by the medium-plus dusty tannins that are well integrated. The wine has full texture with full mid-palate density and for me where this wine shines. The savory finish is medium-plus in length and intensity.
Overall more reminiscent of Old World than new, and everything in its place.
Needs the air time.
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1/9/2015 - K28226 Likes this wine: 92 Points
3 hour decant. Wine softens with air and the young attributes fade reveling a lush red berry forwardness tempered by cedar and graphite.
Probably best to hold unless you have time to let breathe. Good mouthfeel and well made. Picked up at Costco on whim.
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12/28/2014 - rdw wrote: 94 Points
Outstanding
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11/22/2014 - pavel_p Likes this wine: 92 Points
A matter of taste - Singapore (Singapore): More herbal notes than the Almaviva, this has clearly more Cab Sauvignon. Like this better than the 2008 recently, as it does not seem overripe and over the top
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11/22/2014 - Nicholas81 wrote: 91 Points
The wine showed savoury and meaty notes with dark fruits. A very distinctive and balanced wine. Tannins were big and slightly coarse. Finish was moderately long. Better value than the Almaviva. Quite characterful. Young and can do better with ageing.
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10/6/2014 - forceberry wrote: 85 Points
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (96%) and Cabernet Franc (4%). Aged for 15 months in French barriques (76% new, 24% once used).
Dery dense, concentrated and fully opaque dark ruby red color. It seems like the color has lost a bit of its purple hue with age. The nose is not as expressive as it was a year ago, but still very bold and concentrated with aromas of savory blackcurrants, dark-toned ripe berries, some developed pruney notes, a little bit of chocolatey oak and green Cab hints of mint and eucalyptus. The wine comes across as pretty savory, but also ridiculously full-bodied, opulent and extracted on the palate with powerful flavors of ripe blackcurrants, sweet dark plums, brambly blackberries, cherry marmalade, milk chocolate oak, some exotic spices, a little bit of meaty character, light notes of vanilla, a hint of cocoa and a touch of minty herbal character. Overall there is some structure to the wine with its medium-to-moderate acidity and moderate tannins, albeit both of these feel inadequate for a wine this big. Especially the tannins feel quite ripe and resolved, not offering that much grip and structure as I'd hope they would. The finish is ripe, heavy and chewy with bold, concentrated and long flavors of bittersweet dark chocolate, ripe plummy fruits, some vanilla, a little bit of sweet toasty wood, a hint of jammy dark berries and a touch of licorice. The high alcohol makes the aftertaste feel rather hot.
This is a massively big and concentrated new world Cab with ridiculous amounts of extraction and a thick coating of sweet new oak - and rather modest structure to offer barely enough backbone for a piece with the density of a black hole. There's a lot of everything, that's for granted, yet still the wine is impressive only because of its sheer size - not because of its depth or complexity or elegance, because it feels like it doesn't have any of these characteristics. I still have high suspicions whether the wine will age gracefully - for now the only thing that seemed to have changed over the year, was this subtle touch of dried, pruney fruit in the nose. Otherwise the wine was as clumsy as ever with no signs of oak integration whatsoever. I remain as perfectly unimpressed as ever. Feels overpriced at 59,90€.
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10/5/2014 - bigdogflow Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted at Oxy Car McCain Dinner
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9/25/2014 - Pitbozz wrote: 93 Points
Gorgeous!
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9/12/2014 - Gece wrote: 91 Points
Raspberries, blackcurrant and some nettles on the nose, palate adds some cedar to it. Mouthfeel is youthful with somewhat harsh tannins and acidity.
91p now but should probably rest a bunch of years. Surprisingly well-balanced even now, though. Longish decantation is recommended if you intend to drink soon.
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4/24/2014 - gew71walsh wrote: 92 Points
Wine club tasting. Needs a few years-bought for cellaring. Long finish. Deep purple in color, with plum and cassis on palate. Should be great in 3 to 5 years.
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3/30/2014 - Iceman611 wrote: 92 Points
Definitely balanced and interesting. I could tell this was a special wine but it didn't excite me compared to a merryvale cab or a vistalba blend.
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3/11/2014 - gimonca Likes this wine: 92 Points
Meaty, robust, complex, smooth herbs.
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1/22/2014 - RussK wrote: 90 Points
Russk WW@Mortons. Iodine and green pepper. Rustic. Smell almost SoAfrican. 90+
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10/26/2013 - Umay Ceviker wrote: 91 Points
Round and supple with firm but well integrated tannins. Bold yet velvety in texture displaying a sea of black fruity aromas and flavours.
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10/14/2013 - forceberry wrote: 85 Points
Opaque, inky purple appearance. Very sweet and concentrated nose with rich, opulent aromas of very ripe plums, blackcurrant jam, some alcohol, a little bit of floral perfume and a hint of boysenberry juice concentrate. The wine feels very full-bodied, concentrated and extracted on the palate with really chewy texture and taste that feels surprisingly dry in comparison to the sweet nose. There are very intense and succulent flavors of ripe dark berries, dark plums, rich and aromatic oak spice, toasted wood, some milk chocolate, a little bit of peppermint and a hint of vanilla. Many people commented how structured and tightly-knit the wine was, but I found the wine only medium in acidity with ample, yet very ripe and soft tannins that contribute a lot more to the chewy texture and hints of bitterness than to the grip and astringency - which, in my opinion, are elements a wine this big and concentrated would need more. Now the wine feels very big, monolithic even, but lacking balance and structure, coming across as just too heavy and clumsy. The finish is long, juicy and slightly sweet with flavors of ripe dark plums, blackcurrant jam and very prominent oak characteristics of sweet, toasted wood, vanilla, milk chocolate and peppery spice, that seem to carry on forever.
A textbook example of an overdone modern Cabernet. Swathes of ripe fruit here with new oak characteristics to match the massive fruit, but very little emphasis on structure or balance. Many people commented on the depth and complexity of the fruit, but I thought it was very hard to distinguish the nuances of fruit underneath the massive oak treatment - perhaps people confuse the complexity of fruit with the complexity of oak? Because oak is what this wine doesn't lack. All in all, this is a big wine for sure, with massive concentration and lots of ripeness, but with so soft structure I doubt the wine will age gracefully. More likely the wine does the thing most Chilean super wines do: it keeps for years in a cellar unchanged, until it starts to "develop", meaning it just falls apart in a relatively short time. I'd really want to taste a nicely developed Chilean super red, because I've yet to taste a wine that would've gone "up" from their youth - most of them just seem to stay pretty much the same for some time and then they just go "down", never going "up". At 57,90€ this wine feels really overpriced - there are a lot of better and more balanced wines out there for the half of the price.
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9/13/2013 - stayhappy21 wrote: 88 Points
Tasted this wine at Concha Y Toro Wine Tasting Event @ Crystal Wines.
Deep red colour gave away the young age of the wine. It has a elegant nose and tobacco and cigar notes. The entry in the palate is nice, smooth and silky. Has a bitter after taste.
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9/13/2013 - hkm520240 wrote: 92 Points
Concha Y Toro wine tasting (Crystal Wines): Dark garnet and almost opaque, expressve nose of rich cassis fruits with subtle vegetal and smoky notes.
Soft entry but good intensity, still plenty of primary fruits, blackcurrant and smoky notes. Medium+ bodied with good structure and acidity backbone. Ripe and fine tannins with long finish.
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5/1/2013 - MattMauldin wrote: 92 Points
Wine Spectator Grand Tasting- SF April 24; 4/29/2013-5/1/2013: Anise, peppercorn, leather and cassis on the nose. Rich and velvety palate with big structure, polished tannins and lots of spice on a lengthy finish. Very nice.
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