Errazuriz Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve 2017

Professional Ratings

• 96 James Suckling
  Currants, flowers, sandalwood and crushed stone. Some cocoa. Medium to full body and linear, tight tannins. Bright and fresh. Energetic. Shows serious tension and focus. Excellent finish. Drink after 2022.
• 96 Decanter
  The Errazuriz Estate was founded in 1870 by Don Maximiano Errazuriz and this is the 150th anniversary bottling of the wine named in his honour. A Bordeaux-inspired blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (67%), Malbec (12%), Carmenere (8%), Petit Verdot (7%) and Cabernet Franc (6%). Winemaker Francisco Baettig describes the 2017 as 'the freshest Don Maximiano that we've made in modern times'. Rich black cherry and blackberry aromas are edged in vanilla, spice and chocolate with a whisper of florality. Careful oak management (22 months in French oak, 72% new) is reflected in a balanced palate, with mature, rounded tannins; the cassis, cherry and raspberry fruit is overlaid with cocoa, leather and spice notes, buoyed with notable freshness.
• 95 Jeb Dunnuck

  Based on 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Malbec, and the rest Carménère, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc, the 2017 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve offers up a classic Bordeaux-like nose of darker currants and cassis as well as lead pencil, spicy oak, and tobacco. This carries to a medium-bodied, beautifully balanced, elegant Cabernet with good concentration, ripe yet savory tannins, and outstanding length. 

• 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  I like the austerity of the 2017 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve—it's more reserved than the 2016, more discrete and less aromatic, with a lot of power on the palate. 2017 is a structured vintage, and the challenge was to find elegance, freshness and balance, as the weather was warm and dry. It's a blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Malbec, 8% Carmenere, 7% Petit Verdot and 6% Cabernet Franc—a classical Chilean Bordeaux blend—with notes of black fruit, cassis and blackberry, serious and with better-integrated oak. They are very careful with the use of oak, using barrels that mark the wine less, especially in warm vintages, and using fewer new barrels. The wine has structure and tannin but also has the juiciness to balance it all.
  Rating: 93+
• 93 Wine Enthusiast

  Patented Chilean aromas of herbas, blackberry and dark plum are spicy and feature a fair amount of oak and related wood smoke. On the palate, this Cabernet Sauvignon-driven blend is juicy and high in energy. Plum, currant and wild berry flavors maintain a sense of freshness on the finish. Overall, this is showy and complex. Best from 2022 to 2030. Cellar Selection.