Seña · 2009

Seña is the result of the cooperation between Eduardo Chadwick (Viña Errazuriz) and Robert Mondavi (the now deceased co-founder of Opus One in California). The passionate character they both had soon directed them towards wanting to produce one of Chile's great wines. They spent four long years searching for the ideal terroir, until they found it in the Aconcagua Valley, where they acquired 350 hectares of land on virgin slopes. There, the combined efforts of two teams at work, with an enormous amount of experience and technical knowledge, created a genuine wine icon. Today, Seña has realised the dream Eduardo Chadwick (sole owner since 2004) had of producing a wine which would have a place on the high podium of South American wines. The fruit is picked by hand during the early hours of the morning and placed in small 12-kilo crates, then taken off to a carefully-worked selection table. Afterwards, the must ferments mainly in stainless steel (6% in new French oak barrels) with remontage three times a day, before being conveyed to new French oak barrels where it matures for 22 months. Once in the glass, it appears a ruby colour and boasts a nose of huge complexity, with aromas of wild fruits (raspberries and blackcurrants), liquorice, mint and toasted oak in the foreground. After a few minutes, hints of laurel, tobacco, cocoa and cloves come through too. On the palate it reveals a dense, fruity and concentrated body, with abundant tannins which are very well-defined and refined; it's robust and agile at the same time. A lengthy finish packed with purity and balance.