Winemaker Notes
MAX Carmenere is made from grapes hand-picked in Errazuriz’ prestigious Don Maximiano Estate, located in the Aconcagua Valley, a semi-desert region where the hot Summer days are cooled by afternoon breezes. The high day-night temperature differences of the Don Maximiano Estate slows ripening and helps create intensity of flavors and concentration. As Carmenere is a late ripening variety, canopy management is carefully managed so that autumn light penetrates the foliage, assisting in ripening.
Blend: 95% Carmenere, 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Deep, ripe and loamy, offering flavors of roasted plum, mocha and blackberry that lengthen out nicely. Creamy midpalate, with chocolate and spice details. Drink now through 2020.
Dark, full-bodied and herbaceous with a spicy kick, Carménère found great success with its move to Chile in the mid-19th century. However, the variety went a bit undercover until 1994 when many plantings previously thought to be Merlot, were profiled as Carménère. Somm Secret— Carménère is both a progeny and a great-grandchild of the similarly flavored Cabernet Franc.
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.