Vina Errazuriz - Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve 2013

Vinous

Descorchados

James Suckling

Wine & Spirits Magazine

Jeannie Cho Lee

Tom Cannavan

(2016) 79% Caberent Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 6% Carmenere, 5% Petit Verdot. 22 months in French oak, 65% new. The lowering of the oak is the obvious step change here again. Lovely sandalwood notes are fragrant, more pot-pourri edges to the oak, lovely fresh fruit too – a little closed in this young wine, but has such lovely balance, such an agile, fresh palate with plenty of fruit but that intrinsic energy, more balsamic, delightful and balanced stuff.

Wine Enthusiast

Earthy black-olive and foresty herbal scents accent core blackberry and moss aromas. Intense, juicy acidity gives this Cabernet blend vitality across the palate. Herbal berry, olive, pepper and tobacco flavors are spicy on a finish bolstered by brisk, powerful acidity. Drink through 2025.

Decanter Magazine

An altogether fresher Don Max from this cooler vintage. The blend is 79% Cabernet, 6% Carmenere, 5% Petit Verdot with the remainder being made up (for the first time) of 10% Malbec. Compared to the 2007 Don Max, which was aged in 100% new oak, just 65% of the 2013 went into new barriques. Consequently, this is a more restrained style with more defined fruit and acidity. The cassis and black cherry compote flavours are elegantly aligned with a juicy, fruit pastille quality which is extremely appealing. It certainly doesn't lack structure or confidence. Good now in terms of pleasurable accessibility, but will also reward further cellaring.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2013 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve, sourced from a cool vintage, is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec, 6% Carménère and 5% Petit Verdot; it fermented in small stainless steel vats and matured in French oak barrels (65% new) for 22 moths. It has a very classical nose, a Bordeaux blend with aromas of blackberries, faint balsamic notes, cedar wood, graphite, cigar box, cracked peppercorns and tobacco leaves. It has a lot less new oak than the vintages of yesteryear. The palate is medium to full-bodied with the telltale Cabernet tannins, juicy fruit, and tension keeping the freshness balancing the sweet fruit. One of the finest versions of Don Maximiano. 73,800 bottled in March 2015.

Tasting the Errázuriz line up is always exciting ,as they are exploring the coastal, fresher parts of their vineyards, separating plots and vinifying them separately. Part of this search resulted in the creation of two groundbreaking wines from slate soils, a terroir still to be explored and exploited in Chile. The slate (or schist) wines show subdued minerality and a different character, and while the Pinot Noir is very good, the Chardonnay really excels. The team of Eduardo Chadwick and Francisco Baetting are showing clockwork precision with better wines each vintage. They are all highly recommended.