Call me a Cab: 2007 Concha y Toro "Don Melchor" Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto

Have you ever met someone who you thought was perfect? They had great hair; perhaps they were a snappy dresser, eyes that could slay a giant, a face that could set a thousand ships to sail and a voice that could melt butter? Well I think we all have been there before, and after spending considerable coin to get to know them better; you pop the cork, sort of speak only to find nothing but vapid symbolism, no substance in sight. That is the precise moment when disappointment can hit you on the head, like a lead pipe in a dark alley [ouch].

I was now faced with the thought, “uggh, you’re just not who I thought you were” so now what? Well I did finish the bottle anyway, because someone coughed up a pretty penny for this pricey juice. It’s sad really, when you uncork a wine that does not live up to its billing and discover that behind all the glam and glizt there's nothing there. Even Mrs. Cuvee who is far more generous in her opinions than I, thought the wine gave a lack luster performance; I begrudgingly admitted that she was right, after allowing hours in the decanter to go by, before finally agreeing with her.

You're hit with the realization that this wine is not what I thought it would be, reminding us all that like a Tom Petty song, that a pretty face does not make a pretty heart. What can be true in affairs of the heart, are also common traits we sometimes will suffer when you open that prized bottle of vino to find out, it’s not all that. That was the cases when I popped open this bottle of Don Melchor, pictured above. It was a Christmas gift from a well intentioned friend, who will remain name-less, no point of dragging them into the conversation; it’s the thought that counts.

It’s my contention that this wine, with all the fluffy fanfare it received, was just a hollow shell, a wine without the promised substance. As you may know or have read, I’m a huge fan of the Wines of Chile. I’ve really been promoting their wines quite a bit on my blog and deservedly so. I have also wanted to give this so called flagship wine a swirl for the longest time. But this time folks I’m sorry to report that the “hype” did not match any of the qualities attributed to it by many of the big wine-pubs or even the folks on cellar tracker who I think got it way wrong. Perhaps you could chalk it up to bottle variation, but at half a Benjamin, the price of admission is above my pay grade even as an occasion wine, to give it a go once more.

So all that now said; it’s time to kick out my review of the wine. This is not going to be pretty, so look away if you’re squeamish. After I got this wine uncorked, and decanted, strait away in the glass I found a near opaque garnet color. It slowly unfolds to show plenty of dense, but mostly muted currant and stewed plums aromas.  After the first slurp, this wine quickly aligns itself with cedar tinged vanilla flavored oak, incisive varietal flavors like spent coffee filters, burnt tobacco, soil undertones and moist forest floor.

The supposed copious quantities of black cherries and black currants are mostly muted, edgy and uneven tannins and a medium to full-bodied personality, result in a wine which finishes much sooner than expected. Uggh, I’m sad to report a score of 84 points for this wine, which is a chasm of difference between what has been reported and the actual wine I encountered in the bottle. This wine sells for a SRP of $65 and up, sad to say that in my opinion, I can’t really recommend it, that your hard earned money would best be spent elsewhere. So until next time folks continue to sip long and prosper, cheers!