Concha y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Vineyard 2022
(Maipo Valley, Chile) - [JS 99] [VM 97] [TA 97] [JD 97] [WS 95] [WE 95] [WA 94+]

About the Winery:
Concha y Toro’s history begins in 1883 with their founder’s -Melchor Concha y Toro- dream to create the best wines. First produced over 30 years ago, their flagship wine was named in honor of the founded and now Don Melchor has reached a solid position that enables it to face new challenges, highlighting its maturity and ability to express its own identity through Viña Don Melchor.

This identity is built upon a base of three fundamental pillars—its impeccable heritage and history, the peerless conditions of its terroir, and the deep understanding and expertise in the making of the Don Melchor wine.

About the Vineyard:
Puente Alto is a privileged terroir, determined by the singular combination of soil, climate conditions, the vineyard, and a delicate human touch to craft vintages that are a faithful expression of this special place. Located at the foot of the Andes, 650 metres above sea level, the Don Melchor winery is set on the north bank of the Maipo River and has long been a keystone in the history of Chilean wine. Ever since French pre-phylloxera vines were imported in the mid-19th Century, this part of the Maipo Valley has been growing in prestige and quality, building on a past rich in tradition.

The vineyard today consists of 127 hectares, carefully divided into seven parcels, of which roughly 90 per cent hold Cabernet Sauvignon vines, with 7.1 per cent Cabernet Franc, 1.9 per cent Merlot and the final one 1 per cent growing Petit Verdot grapes. The Cabernet Sauvignon vines average more than 30 years of age and correspond to a selection originally brought over from Bordeaux at the end of the 19th Century.

Tasting Notes:
Deep violet in color, intense, and with a great aromatic complexity of red fruits together with floral notes of violets and roses. On the palate, it is a flavorful wine with a soft spell and a superb freshness, along with the elegance and power so characteristic of Puente Alto. It is a wine with a velvety texture, lush body, and a very long and persistent finish.

Technical Data

Cabernet Sauvignon 93%, Cabernet Franc 4%, Merlot 3%
ABV 14.8%

Vinification:
Bunches were hand-harvested in 10-kilogram bins. Once in the winery, a selection of clusters and grapes is made before beginning the vinification process. Alcoholic fermentation was carried out in stainless steel tanks and lasted nine days at 25 to 26°C (77 to 79°F). During the first half of fermentation, three pump-overs were carried out daily, moving one volume of juice per day and then decreasing it to half or a third towards the end of alcoholic fermentation. Once the fermentation process was complete, the tank was hermetically sealed for a maceration of approximately one week (shorter than usual) at temperatures between 23 and 25°C, for a softer extraction of tannins. At the end of the maceration period, the wine is racked, tasted and selected by Don Melchor's winemaking team and sent to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging. Later in July, wines are tasted and chosen to make the final blend, which is then transferred back to barrels to finish aging before bottling.

Aging Potential: Over 35 years.

Ratings & Reviews

99 Points - James Suckling:
"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." (Feb 2024)

97 Points - Vinous Media:
"The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Don Melchor originates from a vineyard planted in the heart of the Puente Alto region in 1979. This is renowned Cabernet Sauvignon terroir, characterized by the perfect balance of temperatures and poor gravel soils. The 2022 was aged in French oak barrels, with 78% of them being new. Garnet-hued with a purplish sheen, it offers complex aromas of currant, blackberry, ash, mint and a subtle floral tone that can be attributed to the cold vintage. Dry, rich and moderately juicy, the precisely calibrated tannins of Maipo Valley and the clear fruit impart the palate with intensity and agility. This is a more nuanced and energetic edition of Don Melchor, closing with a fairly compact finish." - Joaquin Hidalgo (Jul 2024)

97 Points - Tim Atkin:
"'Fresh yet rich and concentrated' is how Enrique Tirado accurately describes the 2022 Don Melchor, the latest in an impressive run of releases of this Puente Alto icon. Youthful, focused and well structured, it's a seamless cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% each of Merlot and Petit Verdot, showing delightful purity and elegance, top notes of cedarwood and graphite, layered tannins and a core of cassis, vanilla spice and black cherry." (Jun 2025)

97 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"Richly textured and layered in tangy red fruit, the 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon is from a cooler year than the 2023, made in a similar way, blending from some 151 parcels planted at different densities and in different time periods, from 1979 through 2022. The 95% Cabernet Sauvignon is joined by 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% each of Merlot and Petit Verdot, aged 15 months in French oak barrels, 72% new. Ripening was even and relatively slow, allowing the flavors, aromas, and acidity to meld seamlessly across a full-bodied palate of lovely red and black fruit and floral tones. The tannins are melded within the breadth of the wine, textured to a delicate degree, well-balanced throughout. This is simply a gorgeous wine. Hold and drink 2032-2045." (May 2026)

95 Points - Wine Spectator:
"Elegant, nuanced and concentrated, with a loamy-clay cast to the fresh thyme and subtle tuberose aromas, which give way to a rich yet balanced core of blackberry and cassis notes lifted by saline-edged acidity. Wonderfully fresh while moving toward the finish, where the flavors come together and linger harmoniously around well-formed tannins. Drink now through 2040. 17,800 cases made, 3,500 cases imported." - Aaron Romano (May 2025)

95 Points - Wine Enthusiast:
"Puente Alto, located in the highest part of the Maipo Valley, is a renowned appellation for producing some of Chile's finest wines. This elegant Cabernet opens with sweet blackberry aromas and subtle hints of licorice. Sip it slowly allowing its flavorful profile to fully unfold, offering ripe red berries intertwined with delicate oak spices. Energized acidity enhances the wine's structure, carrying through to a finish highlighted by a touch of peppercorn." – Jesica Vargas (Jul 2025)

94+ Points - Wine Advocate:
"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." – Matthew Luczy (Mar 2025)