The new Don Melchor 2022 blend is composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot and features the intense expression and superbly-defined aromas and flavours characteristic of its great Puente Alto origin.

Don Melchor, the Chilean wine industry’s first icon wine and a true benchmark among the world’s finest labels, launches its 2022 vintage, an authentic reflection of its origin in the Puente Alto Denomination of Origin.

Enrique Tirado, CEO and Technical Director of Viña Don Melchor, describes the new vintage as a wine that “shows intense aromatic expression dominated by red fruit and floral notes followed by blackcurrants and blackberries. On the palate, it presents a smooth entry evolving into mouth-filling flavours in a sumptuous wine with tremendous concentration and great energy and breadth. The fine textures and tremendous balance reappear on the long finish, accompanied by very expressive fruity aromas that come to the fore.”

In terms of the climate, the 2022 growing season featured very even temperatures, with weather conditions that favoured balanced growth of the vines and, later, optimal ripening of the clusters. In spring and early summer, temperatures were slightly higher than usual, which was ideal for good flowering and fruit set in the clusters. From veraison in January through ripening into April temperatures were very stable, albeit somewhat lower than normal, and were especially influenced by the cooler night-time temperatures.

“The 2022 vintage gave rise to long, dense wines brimming with concentration and with very expressive, well-defined aromas and flavours, highlighting the power of the fruit and the quality of the textures that all varieties in the Don Melchor Vineyard achieved,” affirmed Tirado.

About the Don Melchor Vineyard

The Don Melchor Vineyard is situated at the foot of the Andes Mountains on the northern bank of the Maipo River at an altitude of 650 m. After some new plantings in 2022 and the construction of a water reservoir, the vineyard now comprises 125 hectares: 93% planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% to Cabernet Franc, 1% to Merlot and 1% to Petit Verdot. Today, the vines in the old vineyard average 38 years of age, with the oldest being 45 years old.