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Don Melchor 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Vineyard 14.5% $120
It’s hard to believe that this is the 30th Anniversary the first Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon and the celebration of its 31st bottling. I've had the pleasure of drinking the successive vintages fairly often for about half its life span. Watching its development over time, I have no doubt that this vineyard site - despite being about a century old when this wine debuted - is only getting started. The precision and TLC that winemaker Enrique Tirado applies to this wine is incredible. He harvests the vineyard’s seven parcels separately and performs 150 micro-vinifications!

Sleek and savory, this stunner of a Cabernet Sauvignon (nuanced with 2% Cabernet Franc) is ready to drink as well as to age. There is a surprising gentleness in its underlying concentration of ripe blackcurrant and tart black plum fruits laced with licorice and bay leaf. Though 14.5% alcohol, the wine feels more medium than full in body. The tannins feel glossy and melted, gliding by the palate almost unnoticed. The invigorating acidity lifts the wine effortlessly, rather like a ballerina in a pas des deux (if you can stand the analogy!) Utterly lovely, it is hard to imagine this wine not appealing widely to wine lovers favoring elegant wines.
Drink: 2020-2027