Wine Advisor
Sena 2011
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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.
"Seña 2011 has a beautiful, deep ruby-red colour with a violet hue. On the nose, offers black pepper, and incense notes mingled with aromas of fresh black and red fruits such as blueberries, black currant, blackberries and cherries, followed by dark chocolate and balsamic notes of sage and blond tobacco that lend a finishing touch that enhances the complexity of the blend. The palate opens smoothly, appearing long, refreshing and full of subtleties, with a broad range of flavours and a structure worthy of its complexity that provides an attractive sensation of volume and texture. An exquisite style of wine that presages its excellent cellaring potential." Francisco Baettig, Winemaker February 2013
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
The 2011 Sena is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Carmenere, 15% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc aged in 75% new French oak barrels for 22 months. It has a bright cherry color and restrained aromas of blackberries, spices, cedar wood, tobacco and a hint of mint. The palate is a little tight and restrained, and the wine medium-bodied, with balanced concentration and good acidity. Young but accessible, it shows great elegance and balance. I like it more than the older vintages that I had the chance to taste for context. It needs to develop the bouquet and complexity that, without a doubt, will come with time in bottle. Drink 2015-2027. 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. In the 1990s, Eduardo Chadwick visited Napa, where he met Robert Mondavi. 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. It was a 50/50 joint venture to make a blend including Carmenere to give it a Chilean character. In 2005, Eduardo Chadwick bought Mondavi’s 50 percent, and since then it’s been a Chadwick family winery, worked biodinamically since 2005. Imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700; www.frederickwildman.com
Reviewed by: Joaquin Hidalgo
The 2011 Seña was harvested at the end of a low-yield season in which temperatures were cool and ripening slow. A blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Carménère, 15% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc, aged for 22 months in three quarters new barrels. Garnet red in the glass. The nose is rewardingly fruity with delicate notes of blackcurrant, orange petit fours, country herbs, spice and dried flowers. In the mouth the palate is refined with a moderate structure and a flavorful, slightly juicy flow that lingers at length. A well-focused wine.
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".
