2014 Seña, Aconcagua Valley, Chile
Critics reviews
The percentage of Malbec in the blend of Seña, first introduced in 2012, keeps growing and seems to have provided fine and ripe tannins that add to the texture of the wine.
The blend for the 2014 Sea 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 levage 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 Sea. This should age effortlessly in bottle. 60,000 bottles were filled in March 2016.
Drink 2017 - 2029
Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (April 2017)
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Carmenere, 11% Malbec, 8% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot.
Complex aromas of blueberry, rose petal, licorice, and currant. Full body, ultra fine tannins and a fresh and clean finish. Balanced and very refined. A wonderful purity and beauty. Give it three to four years to come together but already a beauty.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (May 2016)
About this WINE
Seña
Seña is a wine estate in Chile’s Aconcagua Valley. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between Eduardo Chadwick, whose family owns Errázuriz, and the late Robert Mondavi of California. Their ambitious aim was to produce a wine in Chile that could rival Bordeaux’s First Growths in terms of both style and quality. In 1997, they released the inaugural 1995 vintage. The estate has been wholly owned by the Chadwick family since 2005. Today, Eduardo’s daughters María Eugenia, María Magdalena, María José, and Alejandra are involved in the family estate.
The wine is a red Bordeaux blend with a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon, along with Malbec, and Petit Verdot. There is also a considerable proportion of Carménère, more so than you would find in Bordeaux, giving Seña a distinctly Chilean twist. There is also a second wine, Rocas de Seña, produced here. Rocas de Seña is notable for the use of grape varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvèdre in its blend.
Aconcagua Valley
Aconcagua, 80km from the capital Santiago, north of Casablanca and south of Limari, is the last east-west tranversal valley before the long, north-south Central Valley begins. It is named after the highest peak in the Andes, Mt. Aconcagua (6,959m) and is made up of two very distinct zones. The interior of Aconcagua, Panquehue, is Chile's hottest, driest wine region, while the new vineyards located closer to the Pacific coast produce wines with pronounced exotic flavours.
Pure Andean water, a stable climate, clear skies and low risk of frost create ideal conditions for wine growing. Cool currents from both the Pacific Ocean and the snow-capped Andes Mountains help to maintain good acidity in the grapes, while the sunny and intensely hot summers ensure full levels of fruit ripeness.
Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere dominate the production and they have been grown here since the mid 19th century, yet since the 1990s the region has witnessed an enthusiastic interest in Syrah.
Aconcagua is Errazuriz's base
Cabernet Sauvignon Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
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Description
Very deep, dark colour. Rich blackcurrant fruit on the nose, both berry and leaf, no obvious oak on the bouquet, no confection, just a hint of toast. Very good on the palate, serious and savoury, ripe and reminiscent of unsweetened blackcurrant juice, wonderful mouth-feel with crisp acidity and rounded tannins, complexity is provided by a hint of spice in the shape of black pepper notes and a touch of cedar. Long and impressive on the finish. The best Chilean red I can remember tasting.
Chris Pollington, Senior Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd
A lovely depth of colour with flicks of purple in appearance. The nose reveals comforting aromas of ripe blackberries, bramble, and cloves with a gentle herbal character of blackcurrant leaf. Concentrated flavours of red plum, blackberry and mulberry greet the palate which is generously structured with gradually building ripe tannins. Hints of sweet spice and mocha come through and a cleansing acidity wraps the wine up neatly providing balance and freshness towards the long finish. Profound, focussed and with fair depth, this 2014 is proof that Viña Seña are moving in the right direction. Allow a few years in the cellar.
Chris Lamb, Account Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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