2011 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve

The 2011 Don Maximiano Founder's Reserve from the Maximiano vineyard is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Carmenere, 10% Petit Verdot and 5% Malbec from a sloped vineyard on alluvial soils with good drainage and some clay. The Cabernet tends to be old and the other grapes have been planted more recently. This wine has been a blend since 2010, while the older vintages were 100% Cabernet. It also got away from being 100% new oak; now they use whatever they consider suitable. Bright cherry colored, the 2011 was aged in French barrels for 22 months (85% new) but still feels floral and juicy, with notes of tobacco, notable complexity and plenty of tannins. Round and complex, with good acidity and freshness, this is a serious wine to age. Drink 2016-2026. Errazuriz is one of the leading producers from Chile. I first spent a morning in Madrid tasting while talking with owner Eduardo Chadwick and winemaker Francisco Baettig and later visited them in their impressive estate in Aconcagua. They have a large portfolio and also own Arboleda, Caliterra and Sena. There is a clear welcome shift toward more freshness and less wood in their wines. Francisco, who everyone knows as -Pancho,- clearly favors 2013, a very cold and higher acidity vintage, against the warm 2012. (2011 was also cold and 2009 was very warm.) He refers to the availability of better vegetal material in Chile when discussing improvements in the wines. The winery is located in the heart of the Aconcagua Valley, which is warmer and produces wines with lower acidity than Aconcagua Costa, the coastal part of the appellation, 10 to 12 kilometers from the ocean on schist soils where they also have vineyards. In the last few vintages, the focus has been on finesse, harvesting early, looking for a balance between ripeness and acidity and working everything - in all their wineries - by gravity. I loved the freshness of the new Aconcagua Costa wines and the balance and restraint of the Aconcagua reds. These notes compile different tastings and have the background of plenty of vertical tastings of the same label, which provided great context. The Max Reserva range is the higher volume line, from their 700 hectares of vineyards in Aconcagua (they own a grand total of 1,100 hectares!) that are hand-harvested in small boxes. The wines are aged for one year before bottling. The old family property on Maipo was replanted to vineyards in the spring of 1992. Chadwick chose an array of the best field selections of Cabernet Sauvignon (12 hectares), Cabernet Franc (1.30 hectares), Merlot; (1.45 hectares) and Petit Verdot (1.50 hectares). The selection of vine material included the best Cabernet Sauvignon from Maipo and from the Don Maximiano Estate in the Aconcagua Valley. This 15-hectare vineyard is planted in one of the best sections of the Maipo Valley. The Antumapu soils are especially suited for growing red varieties of exceptional quality. These soils have a shallow strata of clay loam over a stone-filled riverbed of alluvial origin. Imported by Vintus Wines, Pleasantville, NY; www.vintuswines.com