Errazuriz Max Reserva Chardonnay 2019
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I found the 2019 Max Chardonnay to be excellent and very affordable. It was produced with grapes from their Aconcagua Costa vineyards, picked early in the morning, the whole clusters pressed and the juice fermented in French oak barrels, 20% of them new, where the wine matured for 10 months. Approximately 30% of the volume went through malolactic fermentation. The wine has an austere profile that I like, and despite the oak and the warmer year, the wine comes through as fresh, with good ripeness, moderate alcohol (13.5%) and notable acidity. There is purity and precision here, the flavors are pristine and the finish long and mineral. This has to be one of the best Chardonnays in its price range.
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James Suckling
Vibrant, attractive peaches and pears and a succulent palate that has a tart-citrus finish. 150th anniversary edition.
Other Vintages
2021-
James
Suckling - Decanter
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James
Suckling - Vinous
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James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
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Wine &
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Wine
Spectator
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James
Suckling
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James
Suckling -
Wine &
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Wine
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Errázuriz is recognized as perhaps the single top-quality producer of Chilean wines, within recent years. Eduardo Chadwick, President, was named Decanter Man of the Year 2018, and the winery was awarded Best Chilean Winery 2017 by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. As an estate winery, Errázuriz strives to produce the finest wines by controlling every stage of the winemaking process, from grape growing in the Aconcagua, Casablanca and Curico valleys, to winemaking with the most natural techniques. An emphasis is placed on the delicate handling of the wines, with the aim of producing wines of elegance and complexity. It is this dynamism and passion for wine that has made Errázuriz such an internationally respected producer of quality wines.
Don Maximiano Errazuriz founded Viña Errazuriz in 1870 in the Aconcagua Valley, north of Santiago. This valley has cool, rainy winters, hot, dry summers and moist Pacific Ocean breezes--ideal for growing grapes. Don Maximiano sent for the finest clones from France and with tenacity and perseverance transformed this barren land into a world-class vineyard. Today, the tradition of quality lives on with Don Maximiano's descendant, Eduardo Chadwick--the fifth generation of his family to be involved in the wine business. Eduardo has overseen the modernization of the winemaking technology at this historic estate while maintaining a distinct identity for its wines, dedicated to producing estate grown wines of superior quality.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The Aconcagua River runs east from the charming costal town of Valparaiso and bisects the land creating the valley after which it was named. While alluvial soils predominate the Aconcagua Valey along its river throughout, its east-west flow creates drastically different conditions on each of its ends. Its western, seaside vineyards, with clay and stony soils upon gently rolling hills, produce cool-climate varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its inner region is one of Chile’s hottest and produces some of its best red wines. Panquehue in the inner Aconcagua is the site of Chile’s first Syrah vines, planted in 1993.