Seña

The Wine

Seña is the culmination of a journey that began as a heart-felt partnership and a deep desire to create a Bordeaux-style red blend with a very Chilean soul. Seña’s predominant variety is Cabernet Sauvignon, and Carmenere clearly ties it to Chile. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot round out the blend that Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi envisioned so many years ago

The Vineyard

Finding the ideal terroir was essential to the project, and it was found after four years of search, in the Aconcagua Valley, 40 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean.

Seña’s 42-hectare hillside vineyard planted to key red Bordeaux varieties 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 perfect cool-climate conditions for producing red grapes that reach an excellent level of maturity with balanced acidity that provide great elegance and finesse. The climate is Mediterranean, and 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, rock, and loam.

The search for better ways to conserve and work with nature to produce the finest possible wine with a clear sense of origin led to sustainable practices and organic agriculture, and ultimately, to employing biodynamic practices.

History

American wine-legend Robert Mondavi arrived in Chile for the first time in 1991 to explore its wine country, and he found a kindred spirit in the Chilean vintner Eduardo Chadwick. They discovered their shared passion and commitment to making unique and extraordinary wines, and the seedling of a new dream took root. They would work together to create a world-class Icon- level wine like none other in Chile. The project became a reality in 1995, when they signed into agreement the first international joint venture in the history of Chilean wine, and Viña Seña was born. They embarked upon the challenging goal, with tradition, hard work and modern technology, to craft a red wine that would express the uniqueness of the Aconcagua Valley and changed the way the world thought about Chilean wine. Today, Eduardo Chadwick is the sole owner of Viña Seña, but Robert Mondavi’s pioneering spirit continues to accompany him as he fulfils the dream they shared.

 

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  • Seña’s predominant variety is Cabernet Sauvignon, and Carmenere clearly ties it to Chile. Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot round out the blend that Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi envisioned so many years ago.

  • The Seña founders, Robert Mondavi and Eduardo Chadwick, 1995.

  • From left to right: Tim Mondavi, Robert Mondavi, Eduardo Chadwick, and Michael Mondavi at Viña Errázuriz, 1997.

  • Biodynamic preparations are stored in a special cellar at the Seña Biodynamic Centre.

  • Nestled into the hills of the Aconcagua Valley, the Seña vineyard was designed to respect nature and the local flora and fauna.

  • Seña’s Hilltop Mirador overlooks the Aconcagua Valley. Germán del Sol, winner of the National Award for Architecture, designed it to incorporate the utmost respect for nature using only local materials.

Opinions
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  • I don’t think he was expecting at all to do as well as he did, but I think having done it, it was an educational experience further than he had planned, because instead of just educating the 40 or 50 people in the room, he educated the entire world.

    Steven Spurrier, Consultant Editor to Decanter & Chairman of Decanter World Wine Awards, United Kingdom, October 2013
  • When Eduardo and I first discussed the concept of this blind tasting format, I told him to brace himself for disappointment, especially given the popularity of Bordeaux reds in this part of the world. I was completely wrong in my warning and I am truly surprised by the results…

    Jeannie Cho Lee MW, First Asian Master of Wine, Contributing Editor Decanter Asia, Co-Chair of DAWA, Author, Wine Consultant & Educator, November 2011
  • Until that point only Eduardo knew what he had in his hands. Today the whole world knows… By reaching indisputable recognition in the world wine scene, Eduardo Chadwick’s wines have clearly demonstrated Chile’s tremendous vitivinicultural potential and have helped Chilean wines earn greater space and credibility in the international market.

    Jorge Lucki, Brazilian Wine Journalist and Columnist for Valor Econômico de Sao Paulo, October 2013
  • These tastings definitely have had an impact on how many influential members of the American wine trade view Chile today. So I see them as invaluable to promoting Chile’s well- deserved image as a source for world-class wine that can sit alongside the best that the rest of the world has to offer.

    Josh Raynolds, Wine Critic to Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, USA, December 2013
  • One enterprising Chilean wine producer, Eduardo Chadwick of Viña Errázuriz, has managed to organise a similar evolutionary milestone for the Chilean wine industry—or at least of his own wines… at what will doubtless come to be known in the history of Chilean wine as the “Berlin Tasting”

    Jancis Robinson MW, “Chilean Wine Grows Up” Financial Times UK, ft Weekend Magazine, February 14, 2004