Don Melchor Media Fact Sheet

THE BEAUTY OF COMPOSITION

THE BEAUTY OF COMPOSITION COMPOSITION, BALANCE, ELEGANCE

A Cabernet Sauvignon of refinement and elegant character, Don Melchor represents a singular expression of the Puente Alto vineyard that can only be achieved by meticulous care and careful composition of complex soils, parcels, and micro-vinifications. It was the first wine to showcase Chile’s profound potential for quality, achieving worldwide approval as a collector’s Cabernet Sauvignon. Currently in its 30th vintage release, Don Melchor is one of the world’s most awarded wines – and launched as an independent winery, Viña Don Melchor, in 2019.

ONE STORY

Don Melchor Concha y Toro was a political visionary and businessman and also one of the precursors to wine production in Chile. Born in Santiago in 1834, he was a renowned lawyer and entrepreneur, with an influential role in Chilean public life during the second half of the 19th century. He gained respect across the political spectrum, with a long career in Parliament, and was even named Minister of Finance.

Don Melchor’s interest in public service was something he carried in his blood. His father, Melchor de Santiago Concha y Cerda, was a well-known politician from whom he inherited the title of “Marques de Casa Concha,” awarded to the first Concha arrived from Spain for his service to the Crown, and passed on from generation to generation.

In the private sector, he was known for his great versatility and broad business outlook, which precisely led to his interest in the world of wine Don Melchor’s relationship with wine can only be explained by his wife, Emiliana Subercaseaux Vicuña, from whom he inherited the Pirque family estate, located in the Maipo Valley, and who notoriously in uenced his entry into the wine industry.

So it was that in 1883, at the age of 50, he planted the first pre-phylloxera French vines at the Pirque family estate -in an unmatched sector of the Maipo Valley- building the family’s summer home and founding Viña Concha y Toro.

For his winemaking project, Don Melchor was advised by

renowned Bordeaux winemaker Monsieur Labouchere, who was amazed by the quality of soil in the Maipo Valley.

In 1892, he died still quite young and before the project completed its first decade, leaving behind a important legacy for the generations to come.

Just over a hundred years later, In 1986, Rafael Guilisasti Gana, son of the President of Viña Concha y Toro at the time, traveled to France along with the company’s lead winemaker and technical director for all Concha y Toro wines, Goetz Von Gersdorff, to introduce the Cabernet Sauvignon from the Puente Alto vineyard to Emile Peynaud, a prominent Bordeaux winemaker considered to be the father of modern winemaking. Peynaud was astonished at once by the extraordinary quality to come out of the vineyard, con rming the unquestionable potential of its terroir to develop an unprecedented wine in Chile.

Due to health issues, Peynaud was unable to personally participate in the project, but he suggested advisory from his closest collaborator, Jacques Boissenot, a winemaker and consultant for the most prestigious French Chateaux, with particular experience in wines from the Médoc region of France. Jacques Boissenot was involved in the wine’s final blend process from Don Melchor’s first harvest in 1987 to the 2013 vintage. Today, it his son, Eric Boissenot, who carries on the legacy and works alongside Enrique Tirado, the current winemaker in charge of Don Melchor since 1997.

“We want to make a Cabernet Sauvignon that expresses the elegance for Puente Alto.

That is our pillar; the style of Don Melchor is to find Puente Alto in every vintage.”

WINEMAKER ENRIQUE TIRADO

One of the most relevant aspects in the history of Don Melchor is the conviction of having a vineyard capable of producing world-class wines that faithfully express their place of origin.

the ve Premier Grand Cru Classé from France- to embark upon a new project: an alliance with the Concha y Toro Vineyard to create Almaviva, a blend of grapes of Bordeaux origin that share the same terroir as Don Melchor.

The Puente Alto vineyard plays a fundamental role in the modern history of Chilean wine, which begins in the second half of the 19th century. Located 18 km south of Santiago at the foot of the Andes Mountains, this vineyard is where the rst French vines were planted in Chile around 1860. Similar to other landowners at the time and Don Melchor Concha y Toro, the vineyard’s founder shaped his project in the image of the French winemaking tradition, hiring winemakers from France and importing the most modern wine production equipment available.

In 2019 and marking an important milestone in its history, the Viña Don Melchor winery was founded, paving a new path that highlights the maturity reached by this iconic Cabernet Sauvignon and its capacity to express its own identity, allowing it to take on new challenges within the industry, while continuing to meet the highest standards of quality and excellence that have earned it a spot among the greatest wines in the world.

Very few records are left of the wines produced by the vineyard during its early years, until 1962 when Concha y Toro bought the vineyard to produce some of the company’s premium wines and create Chile’s first icon wine: Don Melchor.

Just a decade after its first harvest, in 1997, the exceptional quality of the Don Melchor vineyard led the prestigious French company Baron Philippe de Rothschild -responsible for the legendary wine Château Mouton Rothschild, one of

The identity of Viña Don Melchor is built upon three fundamental pillars: impeccable inheritance and experience, unmatched terroir and a profound understanding and mastery in the production of its wine.

ONE TERROIR

“The style, complexity and finesse of Don Melchor is the result of the perfect balance between the rocky soil of Puente Alto, the cold breeze from the Andes Mountains, the generous climate of the Alto Maipo Valley, the many years it has taken for the vines to yield their best grapes and the meticulous work on the vineyard.�

WINEMAKER ENRIQUE TIRADO

The Maipo Valley is the most prestigious wine-producing region in Chile, and it is precisely home to the Don Melchor vineyard. Settled at the foot of the Andes Mountains, along the northern bank of the Maipo River in the Maipo Valley -650 meters above sea level-, the Don Melchor vineyard has played an important role in the modern history of Chilean wine.

Located in one of the coldest areas within the Alto MaipoValley, which is marked by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate, with annual average temperatures of 14.4°C and average rainfall of 350 mm, the vineyard is planted with pre-phylloxera vines imported from France in the mid-19th century.

One of the vineyard’s most important qualities is its soil, characterized by a low nutrient content and diverse constitution, including clay, silt, sand, gravel and round stones thanks to thousands of years of erosion caused by the movement of glaciers from the mountains to the valley, carrying along with them the materials that would give life to the vineyard terraces. This soil ensures good drainage and low fertility, helping restrict the growth of plant vegetation and favoring the natural concentration and maturity of the grapes.

The majestic Andes mountain range is a crucial element of this extraordinary terroir. Its cooling effect can be seen in the form of fresh breeze and a wide fluctuation between day and nighttime temperatures during the maturation period. This maturation occurs slowly and evenly, while conserving a precise acidity, fresh red fruit and a greater concentration of color, aromas and flavors in the grape bunches.

The vineyard is composed of 127 hectares, 90% of which correspond to Cabernet Sauvignon, 7.1% to Cabernet Franc, 1.9% to Merlot and 1% to Petit Verdot.

Based on extensive research on the Puente Alto terroir, the 127 hectares of the Don Melchor vineyard are subdivided into seven Cabernet Sauvignon parcels and small parcels of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Each of these is also divided into micro-parcels in order to work in a specific and detailed manner to meet the needs of each plant, row by row, in order to achieve the perfect balance according to the climate conditions each year.

There are many factors at play in this determination, including content, size and distribution of the stones at different layers, root growth, clay, sand, silt and nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, carbonates and calcium) content, as well as organic matter content and capacity for water retention, among others, which ultimately influence the different expressions found in the wines The work done at Don Melchor includes land management practices that foster the development of the vineyard’s existing ecosystem. Within this context, a push has been made to create biological corridors that allow for the development of native flora, as well as the reproduction of many species that bring life to the vineyard. Moreover, the corridors associated with waterways help reduce sedimentation and the soil erosion along the riverbank, generating an area of biodiversity that gives added value to its surroundings.

Parcel 1

Fresh Sweetness: Elegant, Soft, Sweetness, but not sugary.

Parcel 2 Spice & Structure: More restless, more tannins, more

structure - fresh herbs and menthol.

Parcel 3 Power and Firmness. Intense. Moves between black fruits

and red fruits. Great concentration, power, , tannins.

Parcel 4 Integration and Delicacy. Unionizing and delivering balance.

Parcel 5 Freshness and Energy. Acidity, restless, alive, intense, energy.

Parcel 6 Structure. A blend of fresh sweetness and firmness Parcel 7

Youth. Intense red. Fresh. Restless. Vibrant. Energetic.

ONE WINE

THE MASTERY OF VOCATION Every year winemaker Enrique Tirado tours the vineyard, testing the maturity of the grape clusters, row by row; to determine the exact moment the grape must be harvested.

The Don Melchor harvest performed in each sector is determined by a tasting and speci c grape analysis. The grapes are handpicked from mid-April to early May, and only mature grapes that are intact and healthy are selected for fermentation in stainless-steel tanks. Each homogeneous section is processed separately, with special care given to the temperature and pump-over of each tank.

Meanwhile, the color and tannins are extracted from the grape skins and seeds through a delicate maceration process. After fermentation, these skins and seeds are pressed to conserve the maximum tannin quality of the grapes.

A new Don Melchor vintage comes about after a decision has been made regarding the proportion of the different Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the vineyard’s different parcels to be included in the final blend, and these may

constitute only 60 to 70% of the total wine. Some years, small percentages of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot are added to enhance the complexity and elegance of the final blend.

Therefore, every year in the town of Lamarque, Bordeaux, France, winemaker Enrique Tirado meets with Eric Boissenot -son of renowned Bordeaux consultant Jacques Boissenot- to taste 140 batches from the vineyard and select only those that, in an exact proportion, will determine a new Don Melchor vintage.

Once the blend has been de fined, the new Don Melchor vintage enters French oak barrels taken from the woods of Allier, Tronçais and Nevers. Nearly two-thirds of the barrels are new, and the remaining third have been used once before. After 14 to 15 months, the wine is bottled and continues to age for one more year, in order to develop the unique complexity and elegance of Don Melchor.

2017 VINTAGE The year 2017 had a great harvest that resulted in wines marked by extraordinary elegance and balance.

The year was warmer than usual, with average temperatures of 18.5°C between the veraison and harvest, with less precipitation than the historical average (193 mm). The bud break occurred later than normal, with slower and more limited vegetation growth at the end of October, which then recovered after the flowering stage and ultimately led to a 10-day early harvest and grapes with a high concentration of flavors and aromas.

The wines are highly expressive, full-bodied and long lasting. The expression of the fruit and the quality of textures achieved by the Don Melchor vineyard are truly remarkable.

The harvest was performed between March 22nd and April 29th and is composed of 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. The wine was aged for 15 months in French oak barrels, 67% of which were new and 33% were seconduse.

Don Melchor 2017 is a wine with a remarkable presence of red fruits, a clear expression of Cabernet Sauvignon from Puente Alto, fine and delicate tannins that afford great density to the wine and a long-lasting finish.

I believe that there is a clear concept that we have always maintained in Don Melchor: the respect for the origin and for the expression of the vineyard through the wine. It is a process that starts in the vineyard, and continues in the cellar, all the way through bottling.

WINEMAKER ENRIQUE TIRADO

VIÑA DON MELCHOR – 30TH ANNIVERSARY 30 vintages after its first release, Don Melchor has accomplished an unparalleled record, showcasing Chile’s potential for crafting exquisite, world-class wines. The second vintage of Don Melchor (1988) was the first Chilean wine to be named to Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of the World, where it has since placed nine times, including three placements in the Top 10 in the World. Don Melchor has earned a proud reputation with collectors, who value it above all as a Cabernet Sauvignon that has always expressed its own identity. From a family’s vision in 1986 to reality, Don Melchor has earned a rightful place as a wine of global distinction.

Don Melchor celebrated its 30th year with the release of the 2017 vintage. It also launched as an independent winery, Viña Don Melchor, and continues to achieve the highest standards of quality and excellence.

TIMELINE

1883

1990

Don Melchor Concha y Toro founds Concha y Toro winery and vineyards; the first vines are planted with Bordeaux cuttings in the Maipo village of Pirque.

1988 Don Melchor is the first Chilean wine named to Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines. It has placed 9 times since, including 3 placements in the Top 10 in the World.

1950

1995

A new era of winery investment and growth begins.

Enrique Tirado joins the Don Melchor team and is appointed head winemaker two years later.

1986 Old World meets the New World: the Guilisasti family of Concha y Toro meets with Emile Peynaud and Jacques Boissenot in Bordeaux. There is something special about the wine from the outset.

1987 The first vintage release of Don Melchor

2017 Don Melchor’s 30th anniversary was launched with the presentation of the 2017 vintage.

2019 Don Melchor launches as an independent winery, Viña Don Melchor.