Wine Advisor
Sena 2008
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Description
Seña is a sign to the world that Chile was able to produce world-class wines, expressing the uniqueness of the Aconcagua Valley and changing the way the world thought about Chilean wine. Seña is a unique Bordeaux-style red blend with a very Chilean soul. Its predominant variety is Cabernet Sauvignon, while Carmenere clearly ties it to Chile. Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot round out the blend.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Jay S Miller
Eduardo Chadwick’s 2008 Sena is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Carmenere, 10% Merlot, with the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It offers up an enthralling, already complex bouquet of sandalwood, exotic spices, incense, red licorice, black currant, and blackberry. Velvety-textured, layered, and structured, it deftly combines power and elegance in a wine that mandates another 5-6 years of cellaring. It will deliver prime drinking from 2016 to 2028+. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; www.frederickwildman.com
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2008 Sena has a cool, reserved bouquet of blackberry, raspberry leaf, crushed stone and a touch of Margaux-like violets. The palate is medium-bodied with ripe tannins, crisp acidity and a symmetrical, rather stern, minerally finish, tobacco lingering on the aftertaste. Drink now-2018. Sena is the peripatetic wine that goes around the world challenging and, let it be said, often defeating First Growths in blind tastings. I will not enter into a discussion about that here, although it must be said that Sena is an impressive wine. Tasting through this mini-vertical from almost the first vintage, I did find a distinct improvement from 2007 onwards. While I understand that older vintages have their share of plaudits, I discerned more complexity and vitality as well as finer integration of oak on newer vintages, as if more thought had gone into the wines. The result can be seen in the wines themselves, in particular the outstanding 2010. Importer: Thienot USA; www.thienotusa.com
About the Producer
One of the oldest vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère in Chile, if not in the world, is the origine of this story. Enclaved in the Colchagua Valley, near the town of Santa Cruz, the Apalta Valley was the place selected by a visionnary near the 1915's who, using a unique french massal selection, planted this amazing vineyard. In 1994, Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle and her husband Cyril de Bournet acquired this property. True to the demands of the family, their ambition was to produce an exceptional Chile wine and to pave the way for the qualitative development of the country's fine wines. CLOS APALTA is born in 1997 as the iconic wine of the Domaines Bournet-Lapostolle in Chile under the idea to magnify the exceptional terroir of Apalta with French expertise. Recognized as “Wine of the Year” when its 2005 vintage was chosen TOP #1 by the Wine Spectator magazine, CLOS APALTA is the only South American wine that has received this award. In addition, the 2000 and 2001 vintages were also positioned as TOP 3 and TOP 2 respectively in the same magazine. With the exceptional 2017 vintage, Clos Apalta is awarded for the third time 100 points by famed American journalist and wine critic James Suckling, consolidating its position in the "Legends of Chile".
