Vertical Tasting: Seña 1996 to 2016

Every year, the JamesSuckling.com team spends roughly a month’s time in South America, tasting generally more than 2,000 wines from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Tasting recent vintages from leading producers in Chile such as the emblematic winery Seña has always been one of the biggest highlights of the trip. Seña is a unique, 6000-case-per-year Bordeaux blend made in the Aconcagua Valley just north of Santiago, originally founded by Eduardo Chadwick in cooperation with the late American wine icon Robert Mondavi.

Eduardo found the right place in the astonishing Valle de Aconcagua after an exhaustive quest for the appropriate terroir. The valley is overseen by Mount Aconcagua, the highest peak of all the southwestern hemisphere, and enjoys a Mediterranean climate. Certified biodynamic since 2005, Seña treats the conservation of the environment as an utmost importance.

As of 2005, the project belongs entirely to Chadwick, who also heads Viñedo Chadwick and Viña Errazuriz. The property is a 42-hectare mountain vineyard with blocks of cabernet sauvignon, carmenere, malbec, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot. Although the vines are very young, having been planted specially for Seña, it means the perfect proportions of grape varietals can be used, including a splash of the oh-so-Chilean carmenere’s decadent, unending complexity. This makes it for now simply unbeatable in Chile. 

Today, Seña is one of Chile’s top icon wines that is traded around the world like Bordeaux’s first growths. This is especially the case after Seña was awarded 100 points and ranked third place in our Top 100 Wines of the Year in 2017. Watch our interview with Eduardo, where he talks about how the Mediterranean climate influences this signature Bordeaux blend, and check out all the Señas we’ve tasted since 1996.