2022 Don Melchor
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Tasting notes
Winemaker Enrique Tirado came over to London to present this latest vintage of a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot from Chile’s Cabernet heartland and a relatively cool, dry growing season. The alcohol (15% on the label) is the highest yet for this exceptional Chilean red. Heady nose that somehow suggests sweet ink. Round, smooth texture and with a sweeter start than I remember the remarkable 2021 but then it resolved into something a bit more savoury with stony sensations on the finish. Very supple tannins. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 2022 Don Melchor spent 15 months in 72% new oak barrels and lands somewhere between the open-knit ease of 2021 and the tense introversion of 2020. A coiled, dark-fruited nose of tobacco leaves, dried herbs, graphite and dark chocolate transitions to a slow-moving, velvety palate. It concludes with a taut, inward finish of gently chewy tannins that regenerates the graphite-laden intensity found on the nose. With time in the glass, its structural burliness softened and melded with additional layers of chocolate-driven richness. This could possibly merit a higher score with additional time in bottle to slightly congeal the finish. It's a blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot.
Blackcurrants, cassis and graphite on the nose. Pure and fragrant. Full-bodied with superb density and tannins that are so polished. The texture is like touching a silk ball. Its finish is very long and compact with slightly chewy tannins, but it will come together beautifully with time in the bottle. Try after 2028.