Seña 2016

The beginning of Seña traces back to Eduardo Chadwick's trips to Napa in the 1990s, where he met Robert Mondavi.  Eduardo Chadwick's family owns Viña Errázuriz.  Mondavi visited Chile in 1993 and Eduardo was the one to drive him around. Mondavi was delighted with the potential he saw, but there was really no quality wine to show the world the potential of Chile.  As a result, Seña was established as a collaborative venture between Viña Errázuriz and Robert Mondavi.  Its mission was to make a Bordeaux style blend including Carmenere to give it a Chilean character. In 2005, Eduardo Chadwick bought Mondavi’s 50 percent, and since then it has been a Chadwick family winery, and a personal project of Eduardo Chadwick.  The vineyards have been worked biodynamically since 2005.  Eduardo's ambition is to create a Chilean icon wine, one which fully expresses the terroir (wine identity linked to local soil, aspect and climate) of the Aconcagua Valley, north of Santiago.  The wine world has recognized his success.  In 2004, in a blind tasting event hosted in Berlin that has since become known as the Berlin Tasting, Seña 2001 came in 2nd to its brethren wine Viñedo Chadwick 2000 (which was ranked 1st), forcing the venerable Château Lafite Rothschild 2000 to the 3rd position. 

Sena’s hillside vineyard is on the cooler side of the Aconcagua valley (the limit to ripen Cabernet and Carmenere), extending over 45 hectares planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Syrah. The colluvial soils on the valley’s slopes contain a variety of textures and stone proportions, resulting in a great diversity of well-drained gravel, rock and loam. The backbone of the wine is Cabernet Carmenere, complemented with the other grapes.

Winemaker's Notes

“Deep and beautiful ruby red in colour with a bright violet glimmer. The nose offers gorgeous aromas of blueberries, cherries, and violets framed by light notes of nuts, fine pastry, and a lingering touch of truffle that lends elegance. The palate is in perfect agreement with the nose while adding delicate notes of rose petals. It is fresh and juicy and full of life, with elegant, fine-grained tannins that are both firm yet delicate and speak of a wine with tremendous ageing potential.”

Tasting Notes

"The truly excellent 2016 Seña could very well be the finest wine produced at this estate that started as a joint venture between Robert Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick and now continues under the guidance of Chadwick and the excellent hand of winemaker Francisco "Pancho" Baettig. The grapes were picked later in 2016, and the final blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Malbec, 12% Petit Verdot, 8% Carmenere and 5% Cabernet Franc, with more Malbec and considerably less Carmenere than in the past. This is "only" 13.5% alcohol and has remarkable acidity and freshness, as well as overall balance and elegance that surpasses all previous vintages. Twelve percent of the volume matured in oak foudres, while the rest was aged in barrique (73% new) for 22 months. Even so, the wine is not oaky and comes through as harmonious and elegant within the house style. It's serious, dry and elegant, with zero concessions to sweetness. A mineral and profound red blend. 72,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2018." - Luis Gutiérrez, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (10/31/2018, Issue 239), Ratings: 97