Wine Advisor
Sena 2014
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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.
"Deep ruby red with a crimson hue, Seña 2014 is an extremely complex wine revealing a profound, layered and intense bouquet of red fruit including raspberry, red cherry combined with cedar, bay leaf, dill and subtle tobacco notes and a touch of anise, all framed by light aromas of cocoa and clove. The palate is rich, concentrated and full-bodied exhibiting abundant, youthful, yet supple tannins and a refined lingering finish." Francisco Baettig, Winemaker February 2016
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
The blend for the 2014 Seña was 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Carmenere, 11% Malbec, 8% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot from their stony soils. The different grapes are carefully fermented separately and with different regimes of maceration and extraction but always looking for elegance within the natural power of the zone. The final blend was transferred to French oak barrels, 67% of them new (a percentage that seems to be slowly going down), for the élevage of 22 months. This time, some 5% of the volume carried out its aging in new Stockinger foudres. This is very much in line with the 2013 and the direction set by that cool year. The wine is very harmonious, elegant within the house style. Another superb vintage of Seña. This should age effortlessly in bottle. 60,000 bottles were filled in March 2016.
Reviewed by: Joaquin Hidalgo
The 2014 Seña comes after a frost hit in the spring of 2013 and a cool summer. The blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Carménère, 11% Malbec, 8% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot spent 22 months in 67% new barrels and 5% foudres. Garnet red in color. The nose presents notes of ripe fruit, plum and blackcurrant with hints of herb accompanied by a range of evolving aromas. In the mouth, the tannins are refined and grippy with a slightly juicy flow followed by a languorous finish. An intense 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".
