Don Melchor

Producer history

Viña Concha y Toro was founded in 1883 by Melchor de Concha y Toro, a former Chilean finance minister, who planted Bordeaux vine cuttings at his Pirque estate near Santiago. The company grew into the largest wine producer and exporter in Latin America and one of the largest wine companies in the world, with vineyard holdings across Chile as well as in Argentina and the United States. Ownership and management have long been associated with descendants of the founding family together with the Guilisasti family. Don Melchor, named for the company's founder, was launched in the late 1980s under winemaker Enrique Tirado (who joined Concha y Toro in 1993 and took over Don Melchor in 1997) as the company's flagship, single-wine project intended to establish Chile's credibility for ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Concha y Toro separately partnered with Bordeaux's Baron Philippe de Rothschild in 1997/1998 to create the joint-venture wine Almaviva, a distinct project from Don Melchor.

Signature pairings

• Grilled bone-in ribeye — Puente Alto Cabernet Sauvignon has firm, structured tannin and dark-fruit concentration that needs the char and fat of a grilled, well-marbled cut to show its best balance.
• Aged Gouda or hard sheep's-milk cheese — A firm, nutty aged cheese has enough salt and fat to soften the wine's tannin without competing with its dark-fruit and cedar-box complexity.
• Beef panang curry (แกงพะแนงเนื้อ) — Panang is coconut-cream-based and only mildly spiced rather than sharply hot, so the fat and richness of the sauce cushions the wine's tannin instead of clashing with capsaicin heat; the caramelized, nutty notes from roasted peanuts echo the wine's own toasted-oak character.