Sena Aconcagua Valley Eduardo Chadwick 2016
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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 Chadwick’s daughters, María Eugenia, María Magdalena, María José, and Alejandra are involved in the family estate.
Chile has a mosaic of climates, soils and terroirs that run north to south, from the Atacama Desert to the Patagonian Ice Field, but whose diversity is even greater from east to west, between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. These natural boundaries and a beneficial Mediterranean climate create unique conditions that make this country a true viticultural paradise.
Located in the Aconcagua Valley, 40 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean, Seña’s 42-hectare hillside vineyard was planted in 1998 to key red Bordeaux varieties. The colluvial soils on the valley’s slopes present a variety of textures and proportions of stone content, resulting in a great diversity of well-drained gravel and rocky soils with loam to clay-loam texture. The climate is Mediterranean, with a long dry season and rainfall concentrated in winter. Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the median temperatures are low, however, the vineyard’s position on the eastern side of the Coastal Mountains, facing away from the sea, protects the vines from the direct effect of the ocean’s strong, cold winds and creates cool-climate conditions, perfect for producing red grapes that reach an excellent level of maturity with balanced acidity that provide great elegance and finesse.
Weather in 2016: Rainfall arrived with some delay during 2015 and along with it came cooler temperatures during spring, delaying bud break in 8 to 10 days as compared with the previous season. This little time lag continued until flowering, which nevertheless took place very evenly during mid-November once the spring temperatures had picked up, providing ideal conditions for a healthy fruit set. Then, warm summer conditions continued throughout February, allowing the crop to homogenize before March arrived. The harvest at the Seña Vineyard was mostly concentrated during the first fortnight of April, and the Carmenere was picked during the last week of April, just after the rains halfway through the month. The wines have deliciously round tannins and are bolstered by a bright and balanced level of acidity.
Technical Information:
Grape Varieties: 55% Cabernet, 20% Malbec, 12% Petit Verdot, 8% Carmenere & 5% Cabernet Franc.
Ageing: 22 Months, 88% French Oak Barrels (73% New) , 12% Foudre (Stockinger)
Alcohol: 13.5%
Production: 72,000 bottles
Release Date: September 2018
Tasting Note: A ripe, complex nose of cassis and raspberry jam with sweet spices from the ageing. Fresh and juicy on the palate with a taut texture of firm, precise tannins and a bold, lengthy finish. Will age well in the bottle. - Tasted by Joaquin Hidalgo
Chile has a mosaic of climates, soils and terroirs that run north to south, from the Atacama Desert to the Patagonian Ice Field, but whose diversity is even greater from east to west, between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. These natural boundaries and a beneficial Mediterranean climate create unique conditions that make this country a true viticultural paradise.
Located in the Aconcagua Valley, 40 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean, Seña’s 42-hectare hillside vineyard was planted in 1998 to key red Bordeaux varieties. The colluvial soils on the valley’s slopes present a variety of textures and proportions of stone content, resulting in a great diversity of well-drained gravel and rocky soils with loam to clay-loam texture. The climate is Mediterranean, with a long dry season and rainfall concentrated in winter. Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the median temperatures are low, however, the vineyard’s position on the eastern side of the Coastal Mountains, facing away from the sea, protects the vines from the direct effect of the ocean’s strong, cold winds and creates cool-climate conditions, perfect for producing red grapes that reach an excellent level of maturity with balanced acidity that provide great elegance and finesse.
Weather in 2016: Rainfall arrived with some delay during 2015 and along with it came cooler temperatures during spring, delaying bud break in 8 to 10 days as compared with the previous season. This little time lag continued until flowering, which nevertheless took place very evenly during mid-November once the spring temperatures had picked up, providing ideal conditions for a healthy fruit set. Then, warm summer conditions continued throughout February, allowing the crop to homogenize before March arrived. The harvest at the Seña Vineyard was mostly concentrated during the first fortnight of April, and the Carmenere was picked during the last week of April, just after the rains halfway through the month. The wines have deliciously round tannins and are bolstered by a bright and balanced level of acidity.
Technical Information:
Grape Varieties: 55% Cabernet, 20% Malbec, 12% Petit Verdot, 8% Carmenere & 5% Cabernet Franc.
Ageing: 22 Months, 88% French Oak Barrels (73% New) , 12% Foudre (Stockinger)
Alcohol: 13.5%
Production: 72,000 bottles
Release Date: September 2018
Tasting Note: A ripe, complex nose of cassis and raspberry jam with sweet spices from the ageing. Fresh and juicy on the palate with a taut texture of firm, precise tannins and a bold, lengthy finish. Will age well in the bottle. - Tasted by Joaquin Hidalgo
