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B-21 Top Recommendation
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“One of Chile’s icon wines and deservedly so”
Wine Advocate
When visionaries Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi created Vina Sena in 1995, they embarked on a joint mission to create one of the world’s greatest red wines, and with the first taste of the perfect scoring 2021 Vina Sena, collectors and wine aficionados will enthusiastically agree: Mission Accomplished. Standing shoulder to shoulder with First Growths and cult Napa Cabs and among the most sought-after South American wines, the powerful 100 pt. 2021 Vina Sena offers fresh, decadent fruit framed with remarkable vibrant acidity on an unwavering finish, confirming its status as Chile’s premier cult wine and one to make room for in the cellar at an unbeatable value.
With a family history in the region dating back to the 1870’s beginning with Don Maximiano Errazuriz, passionate vintner Eduardo Chadwick was committed to restoring his family’s run-down 19th century estate to its former glory, inspired in the 1980’s on a visit to Chateau Margaux to create a benchmark Chilean blend that rivaled the First Growths of Bordeaux. Fast forward to 1991, when Augustin Huneeus (yes, that “other” Chilean born winemaker and the visionary behind Napa’s Quintessa) organized a trip for his friend Robert Mondavi to visit Chile and asked Eduardo to show him around. Inspired by the potential of the region’s vineyards and the success of his venture with the Rothschild’s, Mondavi partnered with Eduardo and began a four-year search for the perfect terroir to craft an “Opus One of South America” predominantly of Cabernet Sauvignon with Chile’s indigenous grape Carmenere, discovering the perfect site in the Aconcagua Valley. Boasting well-drained rocky soils of gravel and loam, the hillside 42-hectare Sena vineyard was planted in 1998 to mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and other red Bordeaux varieties as well as Carmenere, its temperatures moderated by winds off the Pacific and pure mountain water from the snowcapped Andes supplying water for the vines. After Mondavi’s death in 2003, Eduardo took over the project in its entirety, bringing the wine to global attention at the blind 2004 Berlin Tastings where wine experts ranked the Vina Sena above First Growths Chateaux Margaux and Lafite, continuing vintage over vintage to build its legendary reputation as “a compelling world class wine” according to Jeb Dunnuck. Produced in an outstanding relatively cool vintage allowing for extended hang times and slow, complete ripening of the biodynamically farmed grapes, longtime winemaker Francisco "Pancho" Baettig aged the 2021 Vina Sena for 22 months in a mix of 70% new French oak barrels with 10% in larger foudres, marking his last harvest as Sena’s winemaker and yielding a finessed and perfectly balanced blend with lush, refined tannins and an exceptional potential for aging.
Delivering on Eduardo Chadwick’s goal to craft “a unique Bordeaux style blend with a very Chilean soul,” the enticing 100 pt. 2021 Vina Sena is a remarkably elegant wine that James Suckling notes is “traded around the world like Bordeaux’s First Growths,” at a mere fraction of the price, a rare opportunity to enjoy terroir-driven perfection for less than many entry level Napa Cabs and a “mission” that collectors of the world’s greatest red wines will be glad they accepted.
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An extremely pure and elegant vintage for Seña. This is really fresh, nimble and floral on the nose with subtle cherries, plums, redcurrants and wild lavender. More red fruit here with lots of layers and just a touch of sweet spice. Very discreet and subtle, with the elegance, freshness and poise you’d expect from 2021. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate with a bit more flesh and depth if you compare it with Roca de Seña, their second wine. The impeccable tannins show the supreme quality of the fruit this year. Persistent, seamless finish, but comes in a subtle way. 50% cabernet sauvignon, 27% malbec, 17% carmenere and 6% petit verdot. Effortlessly drinkable now, but it will age beautifully.
100 points, Zekun Shuai, James Suckling (Apr 2023)
#3 - James Suckling Top 100 of 2023
One of the finest vintages of the iconic Seña wine, the 2021 Seña comes from a cooler year, following the path of 2016 and 2018, certainly cooler than 2020 and 2019. It has a super expressive nose that is elegant, nuanced, perfumed, subtle and pure, with aromatic finesse, layered and complex. It was picked a couple of weeks later than in the previous two years and still keeping the alcohol below 14%. It was produced with a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Malbec (cooler years with more), 17% Carmenere and 6% Petit Verdot, fermented mostly in stainless steel and 10% in oak foudre. It's fine-grained and structured but juicy, similar to 2018 but with more finesse. It has the spicy/herbal twist from the Cabernet, ultra-refined tannins that give it great elegance and with length, purity and delineation. Superb! 120,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in February 2023.
98+ points, Luis Gutiérrez, Wine Advocate (Aug 2023)
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