2005 Concha Y Toro Peumo Marqués de Casa Concha Merlot

Concha Y Toro, with headquarters in Santiago, Chile, is the largest producer of wines in Latin America. The winery includes about 30,000 acres of vineyards spread throughout Chile’s major wine producing regions. Concha Y Toro was founded in 1883 by Don Melchior de Santiago Concha y Toro and his wife. They brought grapes starts from Bordeaux, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Semillon and Carmenere, and in 1923 the company sold shares through the Santiago stock market. Today the stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s flagship wine is the Don Melchior Cabernet Sauvignon, which comes from 25-year-old vines in the Maipo Valley’s Puente Alto Vineyards. The wine generally contains about 5% Cabernet Franc and is aged in French Oak for more than a year. About 13,000 cases of the Don Melchior are produced each year.

Chile has produced wine since the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadores brought grape vines and established vineyards. Sweet wines were favored until well into the 19th century, when French immigrants began making dry wines with a decidedly French character. Chile’s long, narrow, coastal geography has made the transportation of wines challenging over the centuries, though today it is a major exporter. To the west is the Pacific Ocean, to the east are the Andes. But the isolation has also meant that Chile vineyards have so far never been attacked by phylloxera, meaning that unlike viticulturalists in many other part of the world, Chilean vineyards can be planted with original rootstock, saving producers the laborious job of grafting vines onto phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. Chile started an appellation system in 1994, and there are five regions each with numerous sub-regions. Chile has attracted investment from European and American producers, including Robert Mondavi Winery, Kendall-Jackson, Lafite-Rothschild and Miguel Torres.

The Merlot grape is such a deep blue that it is named for the blackbird. It’s an early ripening grape and one of the primary varietals used In Bordeaux. Merlot is also grown in the "International style," which is harvested later to bring out more tannins and body.