Vina Errazuriz - Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve 2010

Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2010 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve is a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Carmenere, 7% Petit Verdot and 5% Syrah aged for 22 months in French oak, of which 81% is new. It has a lush, ripe, rounded bouquet with well-integrated oak, again, more floral in style than the 2008 or 2009, more feminine and generous. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe blackberry and raspberry fruit as well as fine tannins. Finally, after so many years, I feel that the oak is in synch and not subjugating the fruit, rendering this a far more impressive Cabernet that gives pleasure. Drink 2014-2025.

It was a pleasure to spend two or three hours in the company of Eduardo Chadwick at his estate and undertake verticals of his wines. Few have done more to promote Chilean wine than him, most notably with his blind comparisons with First Growth to demonstrate that Sena stands shoulder to shoulder with Old World icons. As you might guess, we had a long debate about that! But also, we engaged in a long discussion about viticulture and the philosophy behind his portfolio. Readers may remark on my relatively mean scores. I thought long and hard about this. But I firmly feel that recent vintages from Errazuriz completely outshine the older ones and speaking at length with winemaker Francisco Baettig, there is a sense of a winery changing tack and in my opinion, what this estate will produce in the next twenty years will completely surpass the previous twenty years.

James Suckling
James Suckling

Beautifully aged with savory, minty and sweet tobacco leaves, rich cassis, leather, orange peel, salted plums, roasted sesame oak, chocolate fudge and a fine, minty, cedary note. This is generous and juicy with assertive tannins coating the sweet fruit. Still refined, despite the generosity. 78% cabernet sauvignon-based, 10% carmenere, 7% petit verdot and 5% cabernet franc. Approaching its peak now, but the tannin frame and the center-palate concentration make a statement that this can hold for another decade. Drink through 2030.

Wine Enthusiast
Wine Enthusiast

Floral aromas of cassis and plum are open, spicy and complex, with a balsamic accent. This feels solid as a rock, with firm tannins and a lively flavor profile that includes blackberry, baked notes, spice and cocoa powder. On the finish, oak is reflected through flavors of vanilla and mocha.

Vinum Wine Magazine
Vinum Wine Magazine

Patricio Tapia - Descorchados
Patricio Tapia - Descorchados

The 2010 is an important vintage because it marked the beginning of the changes—many quite radical—that would take place in the top Errázuriz wines in the decade that followed. For the first time, for example, it was not 100% barrel aged, but rather 81% new oak and 22 months of aging. It also has lower alcohol, closer to 14º rather than the usual 15º that was the trend a few years earlier. But the most important thing is that this wine has aged very well over time. It still seems young, with lots of ripe red fruits and light touches of aging manifested in notes of dry leaves and earthy tones. The still-firm tannins predict another 10 years of aging.