($125, Excelsior Wine and Spirits): Don Melchor is the flagship wine of Concha y Toro, one of Chile’s leading producers.  It is always ones of Chile’s best wines.  And the 2010 is no exception — it is simply stunning and all the more so as it sits in the glass.  The grapes come from a 260-acre single vineyard at the foot of the Andes Mountains in the Maipo Valley, which is Chile’s Napa Valley or Médoc as far as Cabernet Sauvignon is concerned.  The hallmark of great wines in my mind is a cashmere-like (as opposed to lambs wool) texture and complexity.  The 2010 Don Melchor has both.  Glossy and polished, the tannins still provide needed structure, but paradoxically, they’re almost invisible.  New flavors emerging with each sip — dark fruit, a hint of leather, maybe some olive-like notes, a whiff of tobacco — define complexity.  The panoply of flavors persists in a long and graceful finish.  A hint of bitterness in the finish reminds you this is serious wine, not a fruit bomb.  It’s actually remarkably enjoyable now, but given my experience with Don Melchor, the 2010 will blossom even more with cellaring.  Now about the gorilla in the room — its price.  If its appellation were Napa or Pauillac instead of Chile, no one would blink at the price.  But how can a wine from Chile, a country known for inexpensive ones that over deliver, cost $125?  The answer:  This one over delivers, too, albeit at a different price point.  If you’re in a position to spend $100+ for a bottle of wine, this one should be on your table or in your cellar.
96 Michael Apstein Jan 13, 2015