Wine Advisor
Sena 2018
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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.
"Of a deep violet red colour, the complexity on the nose conceals its many subtleties, unfolding floral notes alongside red and black fruits, denoting its distinctive freshness. Several layers are unveiled delivering notes of cedar, tobacco, bitter chocolate and truffles. An elegant, tense and yet very attractive wine, it generously o ers fresh and juicy fruit that reminds of blueberries, raspberries, some spices and Cuban cigar box notes. Above all, Seña 2018 is a truly captivating wine that accomplishes a unique balance between power and elegance. I believe we are beholding one of the greatest vintages ever cra ed in the 25 years of Seña's history." Francisco Baettig, Winemaker February 2020
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
The 2018 Seña shows the fresher side of the Ocoa zone of the Aconcagua Valley through a Bordeaux blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Malbec, 15% Carmenere, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot; there are small differences, but nothing substantial. As I've seen in other wines from the very complete 2018 vintage, the grapes ripened thoroughly and achieved more flavors and nuances, and the wines are slightly higher in alcohol (14% this year versus 13.3% in 2017, but in reality it's 13.8% ). But the wine seems to have more of everything. The grapes fermented in a combination of stainless steel and concrete vats and matured in new barriques and Stockinger foudres for 22 months, a similar formula as the one used for Viñedo Chadwick. This is a very elegant vintage of Seña, a year with a slow ripening so that the grapes achieved very good ripeness and full development of aromas and flavors, making the wine nuanced and complex, with depth but also freshness and finesse—floral and expressive. The tannins are very fine, polished and elegant, and the wine is long and complex, mixing the best f 2015 and 2016, coming through as a very complete year. It's still a little young and should develop nicely in bottle; it's approachable now, but if you can hold it a little bit more, it should be even better. This has to be the finest vintage of Seña to date. Comparing it with the Chadwick from the same year, there is more freshness and a little more complexity and clout coming form the cooler zone and the palette of varieties used that give more options to achieve more nuance. 100,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February and March 2020.
Reviewed by: Joaquin Hidalgo
All the different variables were in perfect equilibrium for the 2018 Seña. A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Malbec, 15% Carménère, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot aged for 22 months in 85% new barrels and 15% in foudres. Its hue is garnet red with a purplish sheen. The intense, complex nose offers plum, blackcurrant and blackberry, subtle notes of mint and spice, and cedar from the aging process. Terse on the palate with refined, firm but delicate tannins that deliver both flavor and structure, the freshness is precise before the lengthy finish.
Reviewed by: Joaquin Hidalgo
The 2018 Seña is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Malbec, 15% Carménère, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot from Ocoa, Aconcagua Valley, that spent 22 months in new barrels, 15% of them foudres. “I really whittled the wine down to 13.8% for greater elegance,” said oenologist Francisco Baettig, and it shows. Purplish red in the glass, it has an enticingly refined nose of black currant and blackberry over secondary woody notes plus balsamic, peppery aromas and hints of mint and saffron. A real joy to drink: relaxed and juicy with polished tannins sustained by a delicate freshness. This is a wine that delivers layer after layer, presenting its own interpretation of elegance.
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".
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