Wine Advisor
Sena 2015
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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 2015 displays an intense red hue with strikingly purple edges. The nose is intense and complex, with red and black fruit aromas, such as raspberries, cherries, currants and blueberries, with soft touches of dill, blond tobacco, cedar, and olive notes. The palate follows the aromas with the same fruit complexity and lasting structure perceived in the nose, where the fruity flavours mingle with cocoa, nutmeg and coffee. An elegant, deep and tense wine with a perfect balance between very fine tannins, nice acidity and fruit intensity. With a long and promising ageing potential." Francisco Baettig, Winemaker February 2017
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
As a comparison to the 2014 vintage of this wine, the 2015 Seña resulted in 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Carmenere, 12% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, with now 12% of the wine matured in new Stockinger oak foudres and the rest in barrique for some 22 months. 2015 might have been a slightly warmer year, but the resulting wine is lower in alcohol and higher in acidity, which provide for a more vibrant mouthfeel and a more focused expression of the character of the place. This vintage has half a degree less alcohol, and the acidity is a little more pungent; and, the amount of wine in foudre seems to help the oak to show better integrated. This is dry, nicely textured, and the replacement of the Merlot by Malbec seems to have also added to the refinement of the tannins that are super-elegant. 66,000 bottles were filled in February 2017. The price has not yet been set.
Reviewed by: Joaquin Hidalgo
The 2015 Seña is the product of a warm, early ripening year. A blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Carménère, 12% Malbec, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, it spent 22 months in two thirds new barrels or foudres (12%). Dark garnet red in the glass. The fruity, open nose offers notes of blackberry and blackcurrant with floral aromas, herbs and hints of ash and cedar. Juicy with a refined texture, a smooth feel and mild freshness, it’s complex in the mouth with well-defined flavor. A focused wine with a slightly herbal aftertaste.
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".
