Don Melchor holds parcel tasting in HK

Don Melchor hosted the first of its “parcel tastings” in Asia in Hong Kong, with head winemaker Enrique Tirado and Ned Goodwin MW explaining the complexities of parcel selection and blending.

Enrique Tirado and Ned Goodwin MW at the tasting.

The tasting saw Tirado and Goodwin talk attendees through the composition of the vineyards used for Don Melchor and taste through six parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon and one of Cabernet Franc,

Tirado then blended the seven wines to show the attributes of each contribute to what Goodwin called a “macro whole”.

By showing the composite parts of Don Melchor, Goodwin explained that the exercise was intended to show that while wines by themselves can be perfectly drinkable, “the reality is, nearly everything we drink is a blend.

“And we can blend Cabernet Sauvignon within itself using climate, rootstock, vine age and density of planting.

“Various concepts, points of minutiae, we can consider to bring us to a macro whole.”

Goodwin added that he hoped events of this sort would raise awareness of the complexity of not just Chilean but all New World fine wines which continue to lag behind the Old world in terms of prestige.

“Chile is making huge in-roads,” he said, “particularly in Japan, in China it’s coming on in leaps and bounds and it continues to grow in Hong Kong. But that’s speaking in terms of volume.

“Face-saving in many cultures (in Asia) means they view Old World as risk-averse – safe – whether the quality is high or not.

“The New World, particularly fine wine, has a challenge to overcome. One way to overcome it is to hold events like this.”

The “Secret Tour” is next going on the road to Singapore, Korea and Japan.