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CEO and Technical Director of Viña Don Melchor"/>
“For me, Don Melchor represents the constant search for the best expression of every vine in the vineyard with a view to achieving the beauty of the balance offered by the Puente Alto terroir, vintage after vintage. That is my true obsession. I use technology as a tool to achieve greater knowledge, but over and above this, observing and feeling each plant and wine is what allows us to achieve the perfect balance in each vintage.”
Enrique Tirado
CEO and Technical Director of Viña Don Melchor
Enrique Tirado is one of the most influential figures on Chile’s wine scene and one of the winemakers with the most experience and knowledge of the Puente Alto appellation.
Since the 1997 harvest, he has overseen the technical direction of Don Melchor, Chile’s first iconic wine and a true benchmark for this grape variety worldwide. He has spent more than 25 years working in and studying this vineyard and has undoubtedly achieved the best expression of Cabernet Sauvignon in this terroir.
With a degree in agronomy with a focus on winemaking from the Universidad Católica de Chile, some of his most notable qualities are his extraordinary winemaking sensitivity, rigor and meticulous work in charge of Don Melchor. His constant dedication and study of the soil, climate, agricultural management, and the implementation of new winemaking technologies have led him to fully understand the vineyard, thus achieving Puente Alto’s finest expression of Cabernet Sauvignon.
His well-known passion for terroir also led him in 2002 to carry out the very first soil and terroir study in Chile, in collaboration with Pedro Parra and the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (INA P-G), one of the most prestigious academic institutions in France.
Enrique has continued the tradition that has been in place since Don Melchor began in 1987, of working together with Jacques Boissenot, the prominent French consultant who advises the most renowned Châteaux in Bordeaux, in the process of determining the final blend of this high-end wine. Today, it is Jacques’s son, Eric Boissenot, who carries on his father’s legacy and continues to collaborate with Enrique.
In his quest to deepen and update his viticultural and winemaking knowledge and techniques, Enrique studied at the prestigious Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISV V) in Bordeaux, France, between 2011 and 2012.
In 2019, he became General Manager of Viña Don Melchor, taking on this important challenge thanks to his vast experience and ability to lead this company. Since then,Enrique has sought to position Don Melchor and the Puente Alto Denomination of Origin at the top of the wine industry, while continuing to produce a wine of the highest quality with the ability to express its magnificent terroir.
Guided by his visionary leadership, Enrique and his team present an unprecedented project for Viña Don Melchor in 2024: the Sundial Vineyard project. This innovative project is a way to continue advancing in terms of sustainability, the preservation of biodiversity in the vineyard and how to face the new challenges posed by Climate Change, as well as being a contribution to science, a source of reliable information in relation to the cultivation of the vine, becoming another step forward in Viña Don Melchor’s quest for excellence.
