Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 1988

It’s not everyday that you get to taste Chilean wines from 1988, and the 1988 Don Melchor was a great surprise. It was only the second vintage produced, and 1988 was an ‘el niño’ cool and rainy year (779 millimeters, more than double the yearly average!) when they could not start picking the grapes until late April. This was pure Cabernet Sauvignon from Puente Alto matured in French oak barrels (60% new) for 12 months. The wine is showing impeccably today. It’s old style, with some rusticity and developed aromas including iron, truffles, brick dust and some paprika. The palate is polished and sleek, fully resolved and with very good acidity. This is ready but in no danger of declining any time soon. This was really surprising. Delicious classical Maipo Cabernet with its minty touch. It was bottled in October 1989. Drink date: 2017-2025. Score – 93. (Luis Gutiérrez, robertparker.com, April 28, 2017)