Don Melchor vertical

One of the principal's of our tasting group had a recent birthday. He therefore picked the theme. It turns out we tasted the Wine Spectators top 4 scoring Don Melchor. All of our group collects these faithfully, but the price has crept up in our monopoly to 80.00. This tasting was going to be my tipping point.

Started with JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenhur Auslese 2005. Lacking on the nose. Typical apple palate, but again lacking in verve and acidity. Sweet fruit. Thick and almost lumpy when pouring. I would like more GREEN apple notes. With an Auslese we are always confused when to open, at the start as a sweet aperitif or the end as the dessert.

2000 Don Melchor. Decanted 4 hours consumed over another 4. The nose never opened and only showed menthol and heat. Palate of oak smoke, dark fruits. Great long finish. If they are all as good as the 2000 we are in for a good tasting.

2001 Don Melchor. Killer nose of warm cinnamon and apple oatmeal, oven fresh bread. Sadly the palate did not live up to the nose. Oak smoke and tar, dark fruit, but with a short clipped finish.

2003 Don Melchor. Forgot what the nose was about. Sorry. The palate was huge though. As per the other two, but with a extra layer of menthol. This finish rolled forever.

2004 Don Melchor. A different nose for sure. Raspberry compote dominated. The nose was a sign of the palate as it was the juiciest red fruit palate of the night. Nice long finish.

All 4 were delicious wines. All 4 had great balance and were in a good drinking window. I liked the 04 initially but the 03 grew on me. Those 2 were the wotn, with the 2000 not far behind. The tannins were well managed on these wines compared to Melchor's of the 90's. Yes I will be a buyer still. Thank goodness for Alberta pricing.

[Jenise]

What you call menthol I call eucalyptus on these wines, but then I grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of euc trees. We used to peel off the bark and inscribe messages on the pieces with burning sticks, pretending we were Indians (or, First Nation in Canadian). It's very familiar. Anyway, it's what I love about Don Melchors and of those you name I have the 04. Any impressions about longevity?

Jenise. The 2000 was showing hardly any age. There was no bricking at the rim. They are all stylistically similar, so I would venture to say the 2004 has enough stuffing for another 6-10 years. I would say that the 2000 would go another 6-10 years also.

Sorry, here's my note from this tasting:

I had the 2004, 2003, 2001 and 2000 vintage of the Don Melchor at an offline last night. All wines were decanted for at least three hours. I didn't take notes, but thought this 2003 was showing the best last night. Ripe, plush black fruit flavours, with hints of tobacco and mint in this full bodied wine. The 2004 was my #2, followed by the 2000 and 2001, which had a weaker finish than the others. All very similar, of course, and solid wines. I didn't enjoy them quite as much as a did in an earlier tasting, but the 2003 in particular was an excellent cabernet (A-).